“It was a murder and a mystery.” It started with a body, a girl of twelve or thirteen, recovered from the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge. “She had an almost puritan glow of innocence…a lost and fragile spirit of nature…that spoke of nursery and schoolroom rather than the bawdy house.” “Two nights prior she had been seen creeping away from Mrs. Rumpy’s.” A note delivered to Broad Court, the building that housed plainclothes detectives said: “Very young lady in Eden Road. Not the Usual Trade.” The detectives discovered a small wet bundle that contained a printed handbill for a cheap fairground show…” Varley’s Waxworks”.

Chief Detective Robert Hesketh headed the task force investigating the crime. Varley’s Waxworks, as advertised in the handbill, was housed in a once abandoned shop. Dark curtains obstructed Hasketh’s view of the exhibit within. In order to have rented the shop, the leaseholder required that Mrs Varley, proprietor, provide a reference. How suspicious that Mrs. Rumpy was said to be the reference.

Marshalsea Prison (1823) A rapid decline in the Dickens family finances caused the family to be sent to debtor’s prison. To help defray John Dickens' debt, the eldest child, eleven year old Charles, found employment working a ten hour work day, six days a week at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse on Hungerford Stairs. His job was to paste labels on pots of boot-blacking. After a sudden windfall, the debt was paid.

1825. Charles Dickens was hungry for knowledge. He was able to return to school based upon the generosity of Chief Hesketh. In the past, Charley had provided assistance in crime solving at Hungerford Stairs. Hesketh’s gift enabled Charley to continue his education once enrolled at Wellington House Academy. Dickens was “such a little fellow”, however his past experiences were among “a whole bevy of thieves and swindlers”. This gave him a different take on life as compared to his fellow students. To his new chums, he was a “comic genius…making up stories about the various masters and doing impressions of them for their entertainment.”

Charles Dickens lived across the street from Mary Ann Mitton. “She’s a girl-but also not like a girl at the same time.” Seated in Charley’s attic room, they would devour “The Terrific Register; or Record of Crimes, Judgements, Providences and Calamities.” Charley dreams, and with Mary Ann, he imagines tales of solving mysteries alongside Hasketh.

How does one investigate the Varley Waxworks? Hesketh again called upon Charles Dickens for assistance. Charley convinced his benefactor that a visit to the waxworks would be enhanced by the appearance of two schoolchildren instead of just one. Could Mary Ann’s watchful eye discover any new theories? To the duo, Hesketh’s quest for information was an adventure, until it wasn’t.

Author Thom Braun has penned a superb historical fiction novel drawing upon Charles Dickens’ young life. Charley’s rich imagination was shaped by a dark childhood where he viewed “organized corruption and child abuse”. Braun casts a wide web around a multitude of well fleshed out characters. The narrative is presented in a rich pattern of storyline alternating with Charley’s thoughts about family, jumbled feelings for Mary Ann as well as his quest to solve mysteries alongside the “highly esteemed Hesketh”. A fascinating read.

Highly recommended.

Thank you Troubador Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.