Such a fun Christmas mystery. This one kept me guessing.. Loved this one! Can't wait to read more in this series.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

True to the era and always a fan of historical Christmas . Enjoyable characters and well written. I love a great Christmas read and this did not disappoint.

It's Christmas time in 1835 and a young Charles Dickens, on assignment outside London, is approached by a young woman with a baby. She claims the baby is his and her sister's who died in a fire. Trouble is, he has never been in this town before and he has never met her sister. Unfortunately, she shoves the baby in his arms and leaves before he can explain this which leaves him with a huge dilemma - he is engaged to his boss' daughter and, if his boss or his fiancee even hears about this, he will surely lose both his job and, worse, the woman he loves. On returning to London, he asks close friends if they will take the boy, Timothy, until he can find the baby's real father.

As if this isn't enough to keep him busy, while carolling with friends outside the house of Emmanuel Screws, Screws' business partner, Jacob Harley falls from an upstairs window with a chain wrapped around his neck. Dickens, with the encouragement of his fiancee, is determined to find out just what happened that night - suicide or murder.

A Christmas Carol Murder (A Dickens of a Crime) by author Heather Redmond was apparently the third installment of the series but the only one I have read. Still it worked well as a stand-aloneThere were plenty of red herrings and danger to keep me entertained and, if it felt a bit forced in a few places trying to make it fit within the limits of the original A Christmas Carol, it was a whole lot of fun to read.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

1835, amateur-sleuth, journalist, London, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-figures, historical-setting, history-and-culture

It's 1835 and Charles Dickens is a journalist, amateur sleuth, and an engaged man. While on assignment in a town he has never visited before a young girl gives him a baby (Timothy Dickens) who she says is his and that the mother (her sister) had died in the recent destructive fire. This truly puts him in a fix as he has to get back to London. He houses the skinny little baby with friends and hopes that his fiancee will not find out about it until he can find the baby's real father (good luck with that).
While caroling in the street, the small group of friends are present when a man named Jacob Harley falls to his death from the second story of his business partner, Emmanuel Screws. Charles then begins the complicated process of following the clues, red herrings, perilous incidents, and disturbing interactions to solve the question of who was responsible the death. Good read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I made the mistake of not realizing this was the final installment in a series. Sadly, I was unable to finish it. I will be going back and reading the first two books and then come back read this one and update my review.

On one of Charles Dickens’ journalist assignments, a baby is thrust upon him claiming he is the father. Charles asks friends to care for it in secret. Out caroling with family and friends, Charles and his fiancée Kate witness the body of counting house partner Jacob Harley falls out of a window wearing chains around his neck. Before the body can be buried, it vanishes and what appears to be Jacob Harley’s ghost shows up at Charles’ home. He also tries to find the baby’s relatives without his fiancée finding out.

A Christmas Carol Murder is the third and final installment of A Dickens of a Crime by Heather Redmond, published by Kensington Books. The story is set in London England 1835. It is about Charles Dickens when he works as a journalist. Christmas draws close and Charles, his family and friends decide to go caroling to raise money for their charity. Outside counting house owner’s Emmanuel Screws property, the body of Jacob Harley falls out of a window wearing chains around his neck. While in the undertaker’s care, the body vanishes. What appears to be the ghost of Jacob Harley turns up at Charles’ lodgings attempting to scare him off the case. Charles tries to find Timothy’s relatives without ruining his engagement to Kate.

Main character young Charles Dickens tries to support himself as news paper journalist. When on breaks from his money paying endeavors he works on his book. I find him a well crafted, believable main character who cares for others around him and he is my favorite in this story.

Supporting character Emmanuel Screws is the counting house owner. As the story progresses I felt unsure what he was about. One minute he was on my suspect list, the next I felt he seemed just a nice old grandpa. He was my least favorite character of this story, but I think his character played a vital part in the drama of the story.

The writing style and dialogue I felt was fantastically unique. With a definite modern vibe it still felt authentic, helped by descriptions of interesting (but pretty unreliable) methods to find a murderer’s identity.
The story included fascinating descriptions of life in London at the time. The writing was so vivid, I felt almost a like a fly on the wall near Charles Dickens and the people around him. I particularly enjoyed reading about family life when Charles was invited to dinner at his in-laws.

Conclusion: The plot had me all baffled and confused towards the end and I could not stop reading until I knew who the culprit was. I read this story as a standalone, which worked perfectly. I enjoyed the hints to previous books, and I am excited to read the two previous installments in the series.

Fans of Heather Redmond will love this final installment in A Dickens of a Crime. Readers of crime fiction would also enjoy this book. Similar authors to explore might be Victoria Gilbert or Joanne Fluke
Thank you to publisher Kensington Books and NetGalley for this eARC which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions in this review are completely my own.

Who doesn't love Christmas in July? I can have christmas anytime, anywhere and especially if Mr Dickens appears in the story.
This is the 3rd book in the series but I am sure you would have no problem reading as a stand alone.
Imagine you are singing christmas carols with Mr Christmas himself 'Dickens" and a murder takes place, right under your nose. Well thats what happens... Mr Dickens takes it upon himself to solve the mystery. Another murder takes place and the police decide its just wan accident... but Dickens feels different and he needs to find the killer before they strike again.
This is a lovely, easy going London, Victorian read, I loved the characters and was transported to the time depicted in the story.
My only niggle was there are lots of references to his previous two books and I felt it was too much.
That being said i throughly enjoyed it and my christmas read in the sun. Thank you.

A very clever take on the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to Ms. Redmond's next endeavor.l

While this book is the 3rd in a series it really stands alone.

It is a mystery intertwined with Charles Dickens's past and an interesting mystery. I love the original " A Christmas Carol" and the author has used their imagination and creativity to create this rich landscape of characters and a world that inspired the familiar tales.

I did not finish this book. I am not a fan of books set back in time. Had this been a more contemporary book I would have finished it.

When Charles Dickens, his fiance' and a few friends are out Christmas caroling a person falls to their death out of Mr. Screws's window right in front of them. Charles is not inclined to help Mr. Screws find out who may have killed his business partner Jacob Harley, but his fiance' thinks that he should. So Charles once again helps to solve a murder.



A CHRISTMAS CAROL MURDER started out fairly slow and I have to say I almost gave up on it. But I plodded on and it got more interesting for me and even entertaining! It was fun to match all of the names with the original book A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I loved the crime-solving aspect of the story. The mystery was interesting as was the investigation. The characters as well were interesting. I liked Mr. Screws even though he was a crusty, cranky sort of person! The Charles Dickens character was interesting and I felt bad for him when it seemed that things were not going to go his way with his fiance'. This is the 3rd book in the A DICKENS OF A CRIME series, I haven't read the first two books, but that wasn't needed to read this one.

A Christmas Carol murder is the third book in this series of mysteries following a young Charles Dickens and his betroathed Kate Hogarth and their friends as they indulge in some amatuer sleuthing. I have read the first book in the series but not the second (due to the extremely high price on Amazon) but you can enjoy this as a standalone.

In the run up to Cristmas Dickens and his friends are singing carols when a murder takes place in front of them - a man forced out of a top floor window with chains around his neck. There are many suspects and Dickens feels complelled to help solve the mystery for the sake of the elderly Mr Screws who is friend and business partner of the victim. The police and coroner decide that it was an accident but then another murder takes place and Dickens realises he must find the killer as soon as possible before they strike again!

This was an enjoyable, easy read and I was instantly transported to 19th Century London at christmas time. I loved the characters especially Charles and the mystery was fun to read and I didn't guess who the murderer was until the reveal at the end. The writing and the actions of the characters are true to the period which is refreshing.

I didn't really like the sub-plot and I felt it detracted from the main story but overall this was an enjoyable historical mystery and perfect reading for when the nights draw in.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review.

December 1935.
Charles Dickens works as a journalist for the newspaper of his fiancée’s father and is working on his first novel “Sketches by Boz” When he is out in Herefordshire, reporting on a fire that wrecked the local mansion, he’s approached by a young servant girl. She tells him that her sister worked for the marchioness and is dead now. This sister had a baby and he is the father. She hands him the child and disappears. He’s shocked as he’s never been in the vicinity before and certainly didn’t father any child. He doesn’t know what to do and plans to find the real father. For the time being, he takes the infant with him to London and asks his friends William and Julie to look after little Timothy. Afraid that his fiancée and her family will misinterpret the situation, he hides it from them.
It’s almost Christmas time and one night when he goes carolling with his fiancée Kate and his other friends to raise money for the mudlark children, they witness a body with chains around the neck fall from a 2nd-floor window. The unfortunate victim is Mr Harley and the house belongs to the unpleasant Mr Screws. They own a countinghouse where a Mr Cratchit works. (Notice how similar the names are to those of the main characters in Dickens’ Christmas Carol) When the body goes missing and the man’s ghost pays him a visit, Charles suspects foul play and he starts to investigate the case. He needs help from his girlfriend who’s most interested in this new mystery.

This is the third book in the series and unfortunately, I missed the first two. This book stands completely on its own, although there are references to things that happened in the earlier books. The colourful cast of characters are already well-known from history and in front of the book is a list of ‘personae dramatis’. I always like that and more authors should provide this service.
I like the premise of Charles Dickens as a detective; he was a journalist in real life so, what’s the difference with investigating things for an article? He’s been portrayed very much as a child of the time he lived in with very preposterous ideas of what’s becoming for a ’gently reared female’. It’s great to read an old-fashioned mystery from before the age of CSI and DNA, even fingerprinting wasn’t recognised.
Do you feel nostalgic sometimes for a time of a simpler and more prudish mentality? Where are the days that thinking about a woman’s knees was thought indecent? We don’t have to return to those attitudes, but the other extreme that we see today with chirurgical enhanced body parts into the indecent extreme isn’t necessary for me at all. So while I do enjoy the quaint expressions of time-relevant sentiments and opinions, I don’t necessarily agree with them. I shake my head in disbelief for a newly widowed woman that’s not allowed to leave her house, and certainly not to attend the funeral or interment.
Kate says to Charles that it is unnatural for a wife to kill her husband -and although there are more wives killed by their husbands than vice versa- history is full of evidence to the contrary. And I personally know several women who’d gladly strangle their husband at times.
We meet a more gentle-hearted Screws than the later Scrooge is. Kate is the first to recognise his better side. He was a genuine friend to the late Harley, who’s seen here as the real cold-hearted scrooge. Also, his attitude towards caring for his nephew’s widow and for Harley’s son, speak louder than words.
About the mystery itself, it’s well-integrated and there are actually 2 of those. However, the case concerning the baby was a little too easily wrapped up. Just like in certain Dickens’ books, in the end, a stranger turns up to explain the whole matter. I had a fairly good idea who was the murderer but shifted in my suspicions as the story cast its shadows on several suspects all in their own turn. It’s well put together and pleasant to read. It’s very interesting to see how the author integrates the original Dickens’ story with her own imagination and mystery. I assume that this is the case for the other books as well. So, I’m really interested to read more of this series.
I thank Kensington Books and Netgalley for a free copy of this book and this is my honest, unbiased review of it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

This is the third book in the series. Charles Dickens is a young newspaper reporter. He is sent to a town where he's never been before to cover a house fire and the death of a wealthy woman. A maid from the town brings him a baby, saying his mother died in the fire and since he is the father he must take the four month old. Dickens is totally shocked - he knows he is not the father and doesn't know what to do. But back to London he goes and finds the baby a wet nurse and a home with his good friends, the Adas. He wants to keep the baby's existence from his fiance Kate as he feels she was possibly believe that the baby is his.

While caroling with his friends, they see a body fall from the second floor of a house, wrapped in chains. Jacob Harley is the man's name - partner in business with Emmanuel Screws. Charles takes it upon himself to discover who killed the man. Thus the basis for A Christmas Carol is set.

What I took away from this novel was the cold and the dirty air of London in the winter. The author tells us how characters' noses drip and they cough from the smoke and fog. I also learned about the mudlarks, children who live by the river and find things in the mud to provide them with a living. Life was tough in London in those days.

While I enjoyed some of this book, I don't believe I would read any more in this series. There are many references to the events of the previous two books.

Christmas Carol is one of my favorite book from Charles Dickens, I read it again and again before Christmas, that’s why it wasn’t a question for me to read this story. I liked the idea of this murder novel, setting a well know author as not just a writer but a crime investigator. Using the already known Christmas Carol time, spiced up with mystery and a problem solver Dickens. An interesting read for Charles Dickens and crime lovers.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an opportunity to read and review an advanced reader copy of this book.

I love “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, so this book sounded intriguing. In this story Dickens writes for a newspaper, is writing a book, but also solves crimes. When he is on location covering a story about a fire, he is handed a baby, and the woman claims he is the father of her sister’s child. Unable to locate the real father, he takes the child back to London, where it ends up complicating his life.

But, when out caroling with friends, Mr. Harley falls out of a window and lands dead in front of the group. He is wrapped in chains. He ends up trying to help Mr. Screws determine who might have killed his business partner. Yep, Robert Cratchit works for them, too.

It was interesting to see how the author played with the original story, while writing a mystery, featuring Dickens. It had the flavor of the era, while highlighting a fictional Dickens and his investigative skills.

A Christmas Carol Murder is completely captivating. The plot is enthralling! I highly recommend this fun mystery!

Loved this book Christmas Carol with Sherlock Holmes all rolled into one. Not my normal kind of book to read but thoroughly enjoyed