The Charles Dickens Murders: A Beth Austin Mystery

It was an excellent mystery. I was almost positive I knew who did it, and was shocked at the end to find out I was wrong. I was also sad when I finished and remembered that the characters are not real. I felt like I personally knew them all, and when someone was murdedred I felt as if I had lost a good friend. I would recomend it to everyone.

I read this book on a driving trip from Chicago to North Carolina with my then-fiancee (now wife) OUT LOUD. We took turns driving or reading and shared the book - not only did we find a great way to spend the long ride, but we discovered yet another of Chicago's hidden treasures (Skom). While I am not a (literary) genius, my wife is, so we were able to enjoy the book on several levels, I for the story of 1940's college life, she for the intricate interplay of Edith Skom's story and Dickens references. The not-to-veiled references to a local University (or two) make this simply a must read for any Chicagoan, especially those alums of certain Universities. . .

I confess, I was first attracted to this novel because of the title. I had not read an Edith Skom book before but am interested in Dickens as well as mysteries. I am very glad I picked it up and can see now I will have to go back and purchase the other two novels by Skom! The narrative skips about in time some as we spend the first half of the novel living the story of the past (where/when the murder takes place) and then spend the second half with the protagonist as she attempts to solve the mystery. The skipping around in time was not difficult to follow and was actually a refreshing approach to telling the tale.The characters were realistic and the plot was not at all predictable. At one point, one of the characters compares their situation with the plot of Agatha Christie's classic "Ten Little Indians" (also called "And Then There Were None"). Coincidentally, I had read that book, as well, only last month and thought the comparisons valid.Enjoy this book, while I am out looking for others by the same author!

This is the first book of Edith Skom's that I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the book moves from present to past and back to the present again by way of Professor Beth Austin's mother relating a murder mystery that happened during her own college years. The reason is Professor Austin's choice of Dickens' unfinished novel, Edwin Drood, for her English class which Beth's mother likens to the unsolved murder of years ago.

Laurie Austin admits to her daughter, Beth, that in the late 1940's, she was involved in a love triangle and unsolved murder when she attended Midwestern University. Beth, an English professor at the same university, is thoroughly fascinated with her mother's tale, especially the claim that the killing will remain unsolved forever. Since she has had some success in solving mysteries (see THE GEORGE ELIOT MURDERS and THE MARK TWAIN MURDERS), Beth decides to investigate. Beth begins by looking up her mother's dorm pals, The Fourth Floor Gang. To her surprise, Beth learns that one of the women, was recently murdered in Manhattan, which leads Beth into a second inquiry. Using references from Dickens' BLEAK HOUSE and THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, Beth begins to find a literary pattern to the two five-decade apart murders. One of life's most difficult situations is to wait for an Edith Skom novel. Though they are several years apart (three novels in almost a decade), they are all great. This time the talented author uses Dickens as a base to paint a masterpiece that will delight readers of cerebral murder mysteries. Her current work, THE CHARLES DICKENS MURDERS, is another clever winner by a great writer, who has made the Austin mysteries some of the best female amateur sleuth novels ever written.Harriet Klausner