There is something oddly comforting about Victorian murder mysteries. I especially liked the main character Wilkie Collins, as I feel the author does an excellent job capturing the inner world of A Victorian Author. The outer Victorian world is well detailed, also, a whole character on its own. It’s Christmas at the Dickens’ home and Wilkie is glad to be invited to spend the holiday with the family. He brings his housekeeper and her daughter, too.
The misery of a prison ship contrasts with the high holiday feelings as Wilkie goes there to investigate a murder of a rather unpleasant guest of Dickens’. A very well plotted murder mystery with lots of interesting characters. This is the fifth in the series, but apparently all five can be read as standalones. I’m definitely going back to read some of the earlier novels and looking forward to the next.

I requested an ARC copy of Murder in the Mist based on the cover/title. It looked perfectly spooky and I couldn't wait to dive in!

In the first half, Wilkie Collins arrives at Charles Dickens' country home to spend the Christmas holiday with a slew of other friends and acquaintances. We are introduced to an Irishman named Timmy who is a completely obnoxious money-lender that seems to have a connection to everyone in the house. Much writing about Dickens being a superb host and party thrower.
The murder finally occurs about halfway through the book. Wilkie and Dickens then begin to examine who would have the motive and opportunity to commit the crime.

At times the book felt like an ode to Dickens' character and writing. It was full of compliments related to his literary genius and charismatic personality.

Overall, the story wasn't as immersive as I had hoped. I never felt a connection to any of the characters and didn't end up caring much about them. I did enjoy the settings - a church grave-yard and prison ship were perfect for a murder story.

I did enjoy learning that Wilkie Collins and Dickens were actually friends in real life and I also liked how the story was meant to give inspiration for Dickens' book, Great Expectations.

Thank you to Net Galley and Severn House for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Gaslight mysteries is an entertaining series and I'm always curious to know what Dickens and Collins will investigate.
This is another good and solid story and it kept me guessing and turning pages.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

It is the best of times: A Christmas book starring Charles Dickens.

The English novelist teams up with mystery writer Willie Collins in the fifth book in Cora Harrison's Gaslight Mystery series.

The setting is Dickens' home, where he has invited several friends and some strangers to spend Christmas. The action focuses on who killed an evil money lender, but there is plenty of space for observing period Yuletide customs. The only thing missing is Tiny Tim.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this Advance Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “Murder in the Mist.” All opinions and comments are my own.

Like author Cora Harrison’s other books in this series, “Murder in the Mist” is no stranger to strong characters and an even stronger plot and situations. After all, she has the works of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens as inspiration. Which means using these two as fictional “detectives,” she has a lot to live up to. Luckily, “Murder in the Mist” is equal to the task.

But, this book isn’t about the murder that occurs in the pages. For the man who dies is a bad man, and deserves what he gets. Readers (and everyone in the book) know that from the get-go. And, as Wilkie Collins, our narrator relates eventually, the murderer is discovered merely through a “process of elimination,” one that may be figured out fairly easy.

No, this book is all about how not to identify a killer, because of how despicable the dead man is; and also, how Charles Dickens goes about living his life -- and everyone else’s. It’s really quite a wonderful process. The author paints a picture in almost every scene.

An Author’s Historical Note explains the significance of “Great Expectations” on its influence on “Murder in the Mist.” It also recognizes the real people mentioned in the story.

“Murder in the Mist” is a memorable book, richly imagined. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins would both be able to see merit in its pages, for the tight pacing, remarkable characters and word portraits delivered by the two main protagonists.

Murder in the Mist was the first of Cora Harrison’s Wilkie Collins/Charles Dickens novels I have read, and it won’t be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a mysterious murder during one of Charles Dickens’ famous Christmas house parties. The tone, atmosphere, characters, as well as the mystery itself were all perfect. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

‘I wished him good night and was left with a warm feeling of affection for Dickens. He had a multitude of annoying practices, could be dictatorial, but he was a wonderful friend.’

Wilkie Collins accepts an invitation to spend Christmas at Gads Hill in Kent with Charles Dickens and his family. Dickens has also invited several other guests, including Mr Timmy O’Connor and his four nephews whom he met in Ireland.

Alas, Timmy O’Connor is not a particularly likeable man and when he is found murdered near a church on the coast while on an outing with Dickens and some other guests, there are quite a few suspects. Including his nephews. Or could it be one of the convicts from a nearby prison hulk?

Collins and Dickens investigate. Along the way, Dickens gathers material for one of his books and Collins learns more about the character of Timmy O’Connor. Georgina, one of Dickens’s other guests, tells of O’Connor as an unscrupulous moneylender, quite willing to use blackmail to achieve his objectives. Ms Harrison cleverly keeps us in suspense as the story unfolds. Almost everyone had a motive for murder, but who was responsible, and why?

Ms Harrison is a prolific mystery writer. I have read novels from two other series (the Burren Mysteries and the Reverend Mother Mysteries) as well. Each series is well researched, and while each mystery can be read as a standalone, I enjoy seeing the development of the main characters.

A very enjoyable addition to the Gaslight Mystery Series.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Cora Harrison does a great job of replicating the formal, slightly stilted conversational tone of her protagonists's era. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins reunite in this continuation of the Gaslight Mystery series. Collins is visiting Dickens and his family at the Gads Hill estate. Among the other guests in the full house is a family of father and sons from Cork, Ireland who had befriended Dickens in the past and whose hospitality he wanted to reciprocate.

As it develops, though, the father has existing ties to the other guests and to the area, providing plenty of motives for murder when he dies in a freak incident.

I've enjoyed the other books in this series, but found this one more slow moving than others. It was still good, and steeped in Dickensenian Christmas traditions that were enjoyable to read about.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this mystery took a bit too long to get going. I am a huge Wilkie Collins fan so I was excited by the prospect of spending time with a fictional version of him and Charles Dickens. However, this book took ages to set the stage. Way too much time was spent on telling us about Dickens’ manner, house, personality, etc. i found that all tiresome. The mystery itself was interesting but as I stated earlier, I found the set up and exposition to take way too long.

As this is part of a series, I would be willing to give another book in the series a chance. Maybe this one just wasnt for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An aspiring authors invitation to the home of Charles Dickens leads to a solved murder.

Charles Dickens is an established author who enjoys holiday gatherings with family and friends. Wilkie Collins is an aspiring writer invited to spend Christmas with Dickens at his magnificent home. Tim O'Connor and his three nephews are also Dickens guests. Tim O'Connors underhanded tactics with his nephews finances does not bode well for him. Wilkie learns that Tim made many enemies due to his owning a convict ship and being a loan shark. Wilkies inquisitive mind helps to solve a case of who done it.

A "Murder in the Mist" takes readers to England and Ireland. I enjoyed the character of Wilkins who thinks of what material to use in future books while solving the murder. A recommended read for those interested in UK mysteries.

This was a great concept in a mystery novel, I enjoyed the use of Charles Dickens being used in this. It was another great entry in this series and I enjoyed the use of Christmas. Cora Harrison always does a great job in writing this series. I can’t wait to read more in this series.

Know that Harrison takes liberties (a lot of them) with the lives of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens but this is still a pretty good historical mystery. It's the Christmas season and the pair team up to solve the murder of Tim (really?) whose body is found in the marsh. The atmospherics are good and the identity of the villain might come as a surprise. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of the genre.

I was so excited to read this book. Literary buddies Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens at Christmas time, a murder mystery, a beautiful moody cover and a catchy title - I was sold, and I dove into this book prepared for a fun and festive treat. Unfortunately, the book's historical inaccuracies are plentiful and chaotic, and proved to be so distracting that I simply couldn't continue reading.

The book's narrator, Fictional Wilkie Collins, claims to have published only two books at the time the story takes place - The Woman In White (1860) and The Moonstone (1868). Real Wilkie Collins actually published other novels, short stories, and plays, both before and in between - they were not consecutive, nor were they his first published works. But the Wilkie of this story claims it's been a couple of years since his only two books were published and that they are just beginning to become successful. The story therefore has to take place after The Moonestone's publication in 1868. It can't be set in 1870, because Dickens died in June of that year, so let's say it's 1869.

Fictional Wilkie has been invited to spend the holiday at Gad's Hill, Dickens' home in Kent, and he brings along the 5 year old daughter of his mistress Catherine Graves, who Real Wilkie began living with in 1858. Dickens writes to Fictional Wilkie that the little girl, Carrie, is the same age as his youngest son Edward "Plorn" Dickens, who was born in 1852 and emigrated to Australia in 1868 at the age of 16. If Plorn is 5 years old in the book, it is 1857, and The Woman in White won't be published for another 3 years, and The Moonstone is still 11 years away. If the story takes place after the publication of The Moonstone, Plorn and Carrie are at least 16 years old - too big for toys and Santa and hiding under the table at dinner - and Plorn isn't even in England anymore.

Real Wilkie Collins was born in 1824. At one point in the story Fictional Wilkie observes of the three young Irishmen who are unexpectedly invited to join the party (all described as being in their early twenties) that "not one of these men was younger than myself". If Wilkie is also in his early twenties, that sets the book in the mid to late 1840s. Carrie and Plorn have not yet been born, Wilkie won't meet Caroline Graves for at least 10 more years, and the books Fictional Wilkie claims to have authored haven't been written let alone published. The Woman in White was published when Real Wilkie was 36, The Moonstone when he was 44 - not his early twenties.

"Dickens , I knew, was the person who ruled that household and his wife, Catherine, was always only too eager to please him in any way." The story has Catherine present at Gad's Hill, so it has to take place prior to 1858. In 1857, Dickens (45) began an affair with Ellen Ternan (18), an actress in Dickens and Collins' play The Frozen Deep, and subsequently, since divorce was social suicide, he publicly accused Catherine of being a terrible mother and tried (unsuccessfully) to have her committed to an insane asylum in 1858, when the couple separated and never saw each other again. If the story takes place when Wilkie is already living with Caroline Graves, and especially after the publication of The Woman In White and The Moonstone, Catherine is definitely NOT living at Gad's Hill with Dickens.

Because Dickens wasn't alive for any Christmases after the one in 1869, the book can't take place after that. Yet a character from Ireland tells Wilkie that he received A PHONE CALL(!!!!) from a nurse in London to inform him of the impending demise of an elderly relative. Alexander Graham Bell didn't patent the first telephone until 1876, and the first commercial telephone exchange didn't exist until 1879 in London - 9 years after Dickens' death, 11 years after the publication of The Moonstone, 21 years after Dickens kicked poor Catherine to the curb, and when Plorn would have been 27 years old.

This book plays very fast and loose with historical details - for the story to be fixed in time so that one thing can be true, then nothing else can be true.

The math just isn't mathing. And the history isn't historying.

This is my biggest problem with historical fiction, and unfortinately many authors are guilty of this. If you choose to write in this genre, and you choose a specific time and place as the setting for your story (to say nothing of using real historical figures, whose lives are well documented, as your characters) there is no excuse for not taking the time to understand your chosen historical context before typing the first word. If you are going to build a story on the bones of real people, certain biographical details need to be accurate, and it needs to make sense, whatever other creative liberties you choose to take. If, however, you only want the general vibes of a time and place without any historical accuracy, then your book should be fantasy, or some other magical genre where it's possible to suspend disbelief.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but no one whose job it was to fact check this book seems to have done so (I probably did more research just to write this review) and the inaccuracies are baked in too deeply to avoid rewriting large segments. Aside from this, the writing seemed engaging, and the plot seemed promising, so I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to continue reading, but unfortinately the errors were too glaring and distracting for me to enjoy the book properly, and I DNFed without finishing it.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a murder mystery that seems tailor-made to be read over Christmas in the best tradition of Dickens and Wilkie Collins.
The story is centred around a Christmas House party held by Dickens to which the novelist Wilkie Collins is also invited. Dickens also has some unexpected Irish guests who he has offered a place to stay to. On a visit to a local graveyard, one of the Irishmen is found murdered. It turns out that he was a well known money lender and many of the people staying with Charles Dickens might have good reasons to want him dead.
I always love Cora Harrison’s books although I hadn’t read any of this series before. This one works well as a stand alone and is short enough to easily be read in one night in front of a warm fire. The setting is brilliantly described and the contrast between the church and the surrounding marshes with the warm hospitality offered by Dickens is really effective. I enjoyed the way that we see Dickens begin to get ideas for Great Expectations during the course of the story too.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Severn House, for my ARC.

Gosh, look at that cover! Dark background, heavy clouds, a little church, and a mysterious man in an old fashion hat! It certainly sets a vibe. Add to it Dickens himself and sprinkle it with a bit of Ireland here and there and it must be, must! a perfect mystery novel.
Nope, not this time. The dead body appears at 42% of the book. Yes, 42% ! Before and after there´s a lot of... hmmm text. I´m sorry but this was just boring and about nothing. The only part that captured my attention was the one with prisoners working nearby.
The author is clearly fascinated by Dickens, both as a person and writer. This book seems to be a tribute to him, which is great by any means. It´s just that there is more Dickens in it than a murder mystery.

At Christmas in 1859, Charles Dickens’ country home of Gad’s Hill is full to bursting. Dickens, his wife and ten children, plus friends, colleagues, and writers including Wilkie Collins, are gathered in celebration. The strangers in this cosy camaraderie are Timmy O’Connor, an unpleasant man Dickens met in Cork, and his nephews, all of whom seem thoroughly cowed by their uncle. Wilkie senses immediately that something is amiss, and his dear friend, Georgina, a young heiress now deprived of beautiful accoutrements by the fact that she has frittered away her fortune and gone borrowing, apprises Wilkie of the real O’Connor. Behind the façade of the generous uncle―bequeathed his brother’s money with the empty promise that he would take care of his four orphaned nephews―is an unscrupulous moneylender who will stop at nothing to root out secrets with the express purpose of blackmailing his clients and wallowing in their misery. His sudden death near Cooling Churchyard isn’t of particular concern to anyone. The suspect list is long, including convicts from a prison ship, most of Dickens’ guests, his staff, and Georgina herself.

While Victorian life is beautifully drawn here, and interesting facts about usury, prison ships, and protagonists Dickens and Collins abound, I found this whodunnit slow going. It feels repetitive and flat, and the writing didn’t fit my expectation, having read many highly enjoyable Burren and Reverend Mother mysteries by the author. The identity of the murderer isn’t immediately obvious, but Wilkie’s plodding thought processes do little to propel the plot forward, and Dickens shows more interest in parlour games and carol-singing than a possible murderer under his roof. Of most interest is Dickens’ musing about the man who would become Abel Magwitch. This is the fifth in the Dickens and Collins Gaslight Mystery series.

"Tis the season of goodwill, and Dickens extends the hand of friendship to a stranded stranger and his nephews for Christmas, with deadly consequences...

Wilkie Collins is looking forward to spending Christmas at Gads Hill, Charles Dickens' Kentish country home, but the festivities are cut short when a body is found on the snowy marshland. Timmy O'Connor was invited to the gathering with his four nephews after a chance encounter with Dickens, but is now dead.

Dickens is convinced the murderer is one of the convicts from a nearby prison ship, but Collins is not so sure. Who was this mysterious and unpleasant stranger from Cork who turned Christmas cheer to fear? With the convicts, guests and even Timmy's nephews under suspicion, there is no shortage of suspects for such a violent act, but which one of them is a cold-blooded killer?"

I so want Collins to have like a bizarre theory that proves to be correct to Dickens' consternation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for this ARC. It was an enjoyable read. A murder mystery to solve with Charles Dickens and his friend Wilkie Collins. Great description of old England and Charles Dicken’s home at Christmas. Interesting characters and a good old mystery to solve. Great addition to the Gaslight series.

This was an atmospheric murder mystery set during the Victorian period featuring sleuths Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, two literary greats. It's wonderfully narrated by Wilkie Collins and with Charles Dickens interest in society and people's everyday lives, they make the perfect detecting duo. A great addition to the series!

I thought this book looked and sounded like something that I would enjoy.

This was a Victorian mystery, and it was excellent. Something that sparked my interest from the start, was the fact that this book featured fictionalised representations of two significant figures in classic literature. The story was narrated by Wilkie Collins, and Charles Dickens also featured as a main character. It always interests me to see how well-known historical figures are portrayed in works of fiction, and I felt that both Collins and Dickens were portrayed wonderfully. I loved the friendship between them; that was something that went to my heart.

I was drawn in by Collins' narration from the first two pages, and I wanted to read it all. I would also say that it was light to read in one sitting. It was very good indeed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.