"Immortalised to Death" by Lyn Squire

June 9, 1870: The great British writer Charles Dickens suffers a stroke and dies in his study at Gads Hill Place in Kent. He’d been working on the next installment of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which now, alas, will remain forever unfinished. 

 

Dunston Burnett, a retired accountant and distant relative of the writer, arrives to pay a visit, not knowing Dickens is dead. He’s greeted by a tearful Georgina Hogarth, Dickens’ sister-in-law who serves as housekeeper and general factotum. The doctor arrives to certify the death, and immediately pronounces it was death by strychnine poisoning. 

What?

 

That is the premise underlying the novel Immortalised to Death by Lyn Squire. It may sound farfetched, but when you read this story, it seems perfectly plausible that Charles Dickens was murdered. While the doctor is determined to report his findings, Georgina and Dunston prevail upon him to hold off for a month while Dunston, with the help of Archibald Line, Scotland Yard’s Chief of Detectives, set out to determine what happened – and who did it. 

What they discover is that the answers lie in the writer’s past, and they unexpectedly also lie in the manuscript of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Dickens didn’t intend to be murdered, of course, but, as he tended to do, he often drew his fictional narratives from real people and events. What helps the investigation is that Burnett knows the writer’s novels, and how Dickens often included an unexpected twist at the end. 

Lyn Squire

Burnett and Georgina know that they if they solve the Edwin Drood mystery, they will likely solve the murder of Dickens himself. And that’s the task Burnett sets for himself, tracking down leads across London. 

Squire knows his Dickens. The solution offered for the Drood mystery is ingenious and fully in keeping with the great writer’s style and imagination. And Squire adroitly uses the facts (and some of the rumors) of Dickens’ life. The reader is pulled into solving the mystery alongside the professional policeman and the amateur sleuths. And it’s great fun. Even better, it’s envisioned to be the first of a Dunston Burnett trilogy. 

Squire spent 25 years at the Work Bank, where he published numerous articles and books on international development and poverty. He also served as editor of the Middle East Development Journal and was the founding president of the Global Development Network, which supports promising scholars from the developing world. He was attracted to writing mysteries by developing a solution to Drood, which he incorporated into Immortalised to Death. Born in Cardiff, Wales, he is now an American citizen and lives in Virginia.  

If you’re a fan of Dickens, 19^th century Victorian fiction, or historical mysteries in general, then Immortalised to Deathoffers a great read.  

(Note: The novel is scheduled for publication on Sept. 26; it can be pre-ordered on the Amazon link.)

 

Some Monday Readings

 

The Autism Surge: Lies, Conspiracies, and My Own Kids – Jill Escher at The Free Press.  

John Leighton’s Cries of London – Spitalfields Life. 

Poetry Prompt: Courage to Follow - Callie Feyen at Tweetspeak Poetry.