The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Penguin Classics)

I almost bought this edition before double-checking and, sure enough, I already have it: it is the famous "Completed by the Spirit-Pen of Charles Dickens" version. Which is also available in the "Droodiana" section of the Delphi e-edition of Dickens's Complete Works, along with three other versions from the 1870s. (My favorite is the earliest, the parody almost in the style of MAD magazine, "The Cloven Foot.") A printer, James self-published his version, which is an interesting one, even though the sentimentality is too thick to spread. And I do wish he could be a little consistent with his verbs, instead of going back and forth between present and past tenses within the same sentence! Still, as a lifelong practicing fictioneer myself, I am well acquainted with that phenomenon when inspiration seems to grab the pen from somewhere outside its holder, so that the story truly does seem to be coming out of itself to the writer's own surprise; and I can appreciate that, if this was James's first auctorial experience, he MIGHT have sincerely believed his to be the work of the ghostly Charles Dickens. As far as I have yet discovered, this was also James's only attempt at authorship; if so, it seems rather a pity: I found very definite promise here. Had I been around, I should have advised James to go on writing and show me something from his own live pen rather than another author's spirit one.
I begin to get the picture that Dickens in his own time resembled Star Trek in the latter twentieth century, in bringing out fan fiction. James could have gone on to pro authorship. (For myself, I cannot see Dickens's Neville Landless simply lying down and dying of Old Novel Disease; but James is not the only one of the Delphi's "Droodiana" four to make this regrettable move.)

If Charles Dickens had been able to complete this book, then I don't honestly think it would have been one of his better works, but going by what there is, I think it still would have been a good solid read.

The tale is mainly set in Cloisterham (fictional, but based on the very real Rochester), but with some goodly sections set in London.

In Cloisterham live the usual assortment of odd, affected characters: young lovers (supposedly), their guardians, friends and neighbours, several of whom carve out a living due to the existence of the Cathedral. There's an oddball mason who pokes around the graveyard and the crypt, a young lad who, although stones everything in sight, reserves much of this activity for the aforesaid graveyard mooch; by agreement if he's late out, then he gets stoned until he does go home. Two new characters, a brother and sister, arrive in the town, and it is this which acts as the pivot for the tale to get really under-way.

Hoping that this doesn't result in any real degree of a spoiler, then basically, we have a row between the fiance and the new boy over the fiancee. A serious attack by the latter is thankfully prevented. Although not linked to this altercation, the engagement's off. Soon after, the former fiance, Edwin Drood is missing, immediately believed dead, and most probably murdered; the main suspect is new boy Neville Landless, but the evidence is circumstantial - blooded heavy walking stick, with of course, the row between the two still fresh in people's minds, but not strong enough to go to a full trial - new boy walks. Even finding personal items of the missing boy in the river is not enough.

The rest of what there is, mainly involves new friends and old coming to the young lady's aid who lives in terror of the missing / dead boy's guardian, who callously tells her he loves her, but in a threatening, sordid manner, and even strongly implies he would have even killed his ward to leave his path clear to his heart's desire.

There are also brilliant boarding house scenes in London, with the landlady going to great pains to show her ordinariness in the presence of the lady who runs the girls' educational establishment in Cloisterham. The landlady's trying-too-hard (and blaming her own time at a boarding school as a lass, for giving her 'poor blood', due to insubstantial wittles) compared with the class-conscious headmistress of sorts, is a delight to read.

As far as how it would have ended if completed. Most experts, Dickens fans, literary experts etc, plump for one character to have done the murder, and if you have a mind to read the Wikis which have reliable information from the time, (statements from John Forster, Charles Junior, John Fildes - illustrator) then I suppose one can only concur. There's only one odd thing about this though, the last time in a Dickens book that a bad tempered man held great store by a heavy stick, he did indeed use it on the object of his anger.

Set in Cloisterham, a cathedral town, Dickens's final novel, unfinished, introduces two elements unusual for Dickens--opium-eating and the church. In the opening scene, John Jasper, music teacher and soloist in the cathedral choir, awakens from an opium trance in a flat with two other semi-conscious men and their supplier, an old woman named Puffer, and then hurries off to daily vespers.

Jasper, aged twenty-six, is the uncle and guardian of Edwin Drood, only a few years younger. Drood has been the fiancé of Rosa Bud for most of his life, an arrangement made by his and Rosa's deceased fathers to honor their friendship, and the wedding is expected within the year. Jasper, Rosa's music teacher, is secretly in love with her, though she finds him repellent.

When two orphans, Helena and Neville Landless, arrive in Cloisterham, Helena and Rosa become friends, and Neville finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Rosa. Ultimately, the hot-tempered Neville and Drood have a terrible argument in which Neville threatens Drood before leaving town on a walking trip. Drood vanishes the same day. Apprehended on his trip, Neville is questioned about Drood's disappearance, and Jasper accuses him of murder.

Tightly organized to this point, the novel shows Jasper himself to be a prime suspect, someone who could have engineered the evidence against Neville, but Dickens unexpectedly introduces some new characters at this point--the mysterious Dick Datchery and Tartar, an old friend of Rev. Mr. Crisparkle, minor canon at the cathedral. Puffer, the opium woman, is reintroduced and appears set to play a greater role, since she solicits information from the semi-conscious Jasper and secretly follows him. This is the halfway point in the projected novel, and Dickens clearly planned to develop these new (or reintroduced) characters to deepen the mystery.

More modern in many ways than his previous novels, the characters here are not simple stereotypes--some are good people who have real flaws and make mistakes. Dickens's tying of Jasper to the church choir, where he was a soloist, suggests some examination of the theme of hypocrisy, in which the good Mr. Crisparkle would be Jasper's antithesis. The opium scenes, vividly drawn, carry the unusual suggestion that opium leads to a kind of intoxication similar to that of alcohol, and Dicken does not use these scenes to offer dire warnings about the drug--at least at this point. Especially intriguing because it is unfinished, this novel continues to fascinate mystery lovers and literary scholars more than a century after its first publication. Mary Whipple

What men will do to woo this pampered heroine! Published as a real mystery Dicken's last novel--the more tantalizing because it remains unfinished--offers readers the case of young Edwin Drood. Vanishing
from the world of men on a stormy Christmas Eve his body was never found (at least not in the 270 pages of the extent novel). Foul play seems evident when his watch and shirt pin are discovered by the weir. Set in the fictitious cathedral town of Cloisterham the story opens in a shabby London opium den; in fact, the opium hag makes odd appearances during the novel--possibly holding the key to the mystery of the "dear boy's fate.

Dickens' scholars concur that the character of the John Jasper is villainous right at the outset--cruelly capable of devious schemes, patient planning for an obsessive goal, and precise execution of his dark intent. Snakelike he can mesmerize his helpless victims with his stare and intense mental powers. John Jasper's external persona is one of musical talent and benign avuncular affection; as the cathedral's soloist and choir master he is respected and praised. Very few people realize that he possesses a dark side which runs viciously deep.

Most of the novel is set is Cloisterham, but six months after Edwin's scandalous disappearance many of the characters travel to London for various purposes. It is amazing that so many men fall for the charms of a young, spoiled girl-woman who lives at Nun's House to complete her education: her fiancé, Edwin, naturally, his brooding uncle, John Jasper, newcomer Neville Landless, bronzed sailor Mr. Tartar and even her middle aged guardian, Mr. Grewgious. These male characters turn their lives upside down to impress/court/protect Rosebud, as she is nicknamed.

No one knows how Dickens planned to resolve the mystery and punish the guilty or reward/exonerate the innocent, though speculation among scholars and mystery writers may prove a delightful and a scholarly occupation. Dickens apparently desired to present an in-depth study of the criminal mind, in all its complexities and moods.
NB: Jasper, not a gemstone though sometimes perceived as such, is
very hard, appears variously as green, red or brown; it also possesses an opaque quality. Despite John Jasper's penchant for evil he occasionally evinces a few streaks of tenderness. Perhaps the author deliberately chose this name for this refined antagonist, to slyly indicate his complex nature.

How uncommon it is for an unfinished novel not to be completed posthumously by some ghost writer or designee appointed by the deceased's executor, but the story of Edwin Drood is unfinished indeed, ends abruptly, leaving the reader to feel like he's been dropped off a cliff. Or, in the words of Romeo, "O! Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied!"

The real problem with The Mystery of Edwin Drood, though, is the reader will never know whether the author of so many novels that explore the 19th Century English social landscape could write a decent and intriguing mystery. At the point the story concludes, Dickens' mystery--what has become of young Edwin Drood-- is not very mysterious at all. Of the two possible "persons of interest" in Drood's disappearance, we have ruled out one and all suspicion lies with the other. Dickens has allowed us to shadow this suspect and shown us his Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality, made clear his motive for homocidal action, and even dropped some heavy hints about where such a person could, if need be, dispose of a body. And this is the problem: it's all too facile for an author who can spin a yarn like Dickens. He has led us too conveniently to conclusions, explained too much for any real conundrum to exist. Besides, new characters arrive on the scene. How do they figure into the story? Who knows? Just where is Edwin Drood? And who knows his whereabouts? The only one who knows for sure died in 1870 and took his mystery to the grave.

The mystery may be hidden from us, but there are other rewards for the reader of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Even though Dickens was in failing health when he wrote what he could of his last novel, he was still able to create memorable characters and make a metaphor blossom in his inimitable playful manner. We have the gentle but eccentric Mr. Grewgious (who myopically shows an excess of "white stocking...to the public eye", Miss Rosa Bud's affable guardian. Grewgious's foil, the garrulous Mr. Honeythunder, whose name epitomizes his bumptious, overbearing character, is the hypocritical guardian of Neville and Helena Landless. There's the pragmatic Mr. Septimus Crisparkle, whom Dickens describes as a "model clergyman, and a true Christian gentleman." And the ex-mariner Lieutenant Tartar, who may have abandoned the high seas yet furnishes his lodgings with all things nautical and leads a shipshape life ashore. (He appears late in the story, sadly, and of him and his role in the storyline we are again left "so unsatisfied.")

The Everyman's edition includes a helpful introduction (Peter Ackroyd) and an appendix by the 19th Century English literary critic G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton presents some theories advanced by 19th Century critics on the possibilities Dickens may have been considering for the final chapters of his only mystery. The plausibility of these varied points of view Chesterton challenges with those of his own, making for a thought-provoking, helpful argument for the reader.

I recommend The Mystery of Edwin Drood, not because it is a mystery for those who love mysteries, but because it is Dickens and those who love his writing should read Edwin Drood. After all, it is his last. Savor it.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was the novel Charles Dickens was seeking to complete when he died in June 1870. The novel was being serialized and only six parts were published. The novel was illustrated by Luke Fildes.
It has been a challenge to literary critics as to what happened to Drood and whether or not he was murdered. We will never know the answer due to the death of the author. Dickens had a penchant for a good murder tale. He was a good friend of mystery author Wilkie Collins and this novel stands up to the best ever written in the genre.
The action is set in London and Cloisterham (based on Rochester). The book begins in an opium den where John Jasper is dreaming the day away in dreams carrying him far from the realities of his mundane life back home in Cloisterham.
Jasper has a nephew whose name is Edwin Drood. Drood is engaged to Rosa Bud but they decide to break the engagement. Jasper loves Rosa Bud and asks for her hand but is rejected. Rosa Bud is an orphan who is attending a young lady's academy in the town. Drood has an argument with Neville Landless and disappears on Christmas Eve. Landless is in love with Rosa and his fetching sister Helen is admired by Drood.
The leading suspect in the crime is John Jasper. The motive is his love for Rosa Bud. It is impossible, however, to prove his guilt due to the incompleted masterpiece.
As with all of Dickens works this one has many interesting and colorful characters such as:
Durdles the stonemason who takes Jasper on a creepy nighttime tour of the Cathedral burial vaults located under the church floor.
Mr and Mrs. Crisparkle who believe in muscular Christianity and serve as a light counterpoint to the darkness of Jasper.
Mr. Sapsea the idiotic mayor and town auctioneer.
The Deputy-a juvenille delinquent whose proclivity for throwing rocks at animals and town dwellers is repellent.
Datchery-A mysterious man who visits the town and may be a detective examining the case of the missing Edwin Drood.
Even in its truncated conditon this is another delightful Dickens novel which is your to relish as you make up your own mind as to possible plot developments. It contains excellent writing showing that Dickens was at the top of his game even as the bell was about to toll on the greatest literary career in Great Britain since the days of William Shakespeare. A knowledge of the career and works of Charles Dickens is essential to literary students.Edwin Drood stands as an incomplete classic of British fiction.

Set in Cloisterham, a cathedral town, Dickens's final novel, unfinished, introduces two elements unusual for Dickens--opium-eating and the church. In the opening scene, John Jasper, music teacher and soloist in the cathedral choir, awakens from an opium trance in a flat with two other semi-conscious men and their supplier, an old woman named Puffer, and then hurries off to daily vespers.

Jasper, aged twenty-six, is the uncle and guardian of Edwin Drood, only a few years younger. Drood has been the fiancé of Rosa Bud for most of his life, an arrangement made by his and Rosa's deceased fathers to honor their friendship, and the wedding is expected within the year. Jasper, Rosa's music teacher, is secretly in love with her, though she finds him repellent.

When two orphans, Helena and Neville Landless, arrive in Cloisterham, Helena and Rosa become friends, and Neville finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Rosa. Ultimately, the hot-tempered Neville and Drood have a terrible argument in which Neville threatens Drood before leaving town on a walking trip. Drood vanishes the same day. Apprehended on his trip, Neville is questioned about Drood's disappearance, and Jasper accuses him of murder.

Tightly organized to this point, the novel shows Jasper himself to be a prime suspect, someone who could have engineered the evidence against Neville, but Dickens unexpectedly introduces some new characters at this point--the mysterious Dick Datchery and Tartar, an old friend of Rev. Mr. Crisparkle, minor canon at the cathedral. Puffer, the opium woman, is reintroduced and appears set to play a greater role, since she solicits information from the semi-conscious Jasper and secretly follows him. This is the halfway point in the projected novel, and Dickens clearly planned to develop these new (or reintroduced) characters to deepen the mystery.

More modern in many ways than his previous novels, the characters here are not simple stereotypes--some are good people who have real flaws and make mistakes. Dickens's tying of Jasper to the church choir, where he was a soloist, suggests some examination of the theme of hypocrisy, in which the good Mr. Crisparkle would be Jasper's antithesis. The opium scenes, vividly drawn, carry the unusual suggestion that opium leads to a kind of intoxication similar to that of alcohol, and Dicken does not use these scenes to offer dire warnings about the drug--at least at this point. Especially intriguing because it is unfinished, this novel continues to fascinate mystery lovers and literary scholars more than a century after its first publication. Mary Whipple

I've read several reviews here that imply the mystery of Edwin Drood is left unsolved, as the novel is unfinished. It is not, however. The mystery is very clearly resolved. If there was any doubt, or thought that the prime "suspect" was a red herring (something that should be clear from the text is not possible), Dickens' correspondence erases it. So don't let fear of an unsolved mystery keep you from enjoying one of Dickens' best, and most atypical, works.

The style is very different from his past work; the language, the pacing, the opium tinted narrative are all fascinating. It's heartbreaking that the author was taken before he was able to complete what might have been a truly magnificent story.

Set in Cloisterham, a cathedral town, Dickens's final novel, unfinished, introduces two elements unusual for Dickens--opium-eating and the church. In the opening scene, John Jasper, music teacher and soloist in the cathedral choir, awakens from an opium trance in a flat with two other semi-conscious men and their supplier, an old woman named Puffer, and then hurries off to daily vespers.

Jasper, aged twenty-six, is the uncle and guardian of Edwin Drood, only a few years younger. Drood has been the fiancé of Rosa Bud for most of his life, an arrangement made by his and Rosa's deceased fathers to honor their friendship, and the wedding is expected within the year. Jasper, Rosa's music teacher, is secretly in love with her, though she finds him repellent.

When two orphans, Helena and Neville Landless, arrive in Cloisterham, Helena and Rosa become friends, and Neville finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Rosa. Ultimately, the hot-tempered Neville and Drood have a terrible argument in which Neville threatens Drood before leaving town on a walking trip. Drood vanishes the same day. Apprehended on his trip, Neville is questioned about Drood's disappearance, and Jasper accuses him of murder.

Tightly organized to this point, the novel shows Jasper himself to be a prime suspect, someone who could have engineered the evidence against Neville, but Dickens unexpectedly introduces some new characters at this point--the mysterious Dick Datchery and Tartar, an old friend of Rev. Mr. Crisparkle, minor canon at the cathedral. Puffer, the opium woman, is reintroduced and appears set to play a greater role, since she solicits information from the semi-conscious Jasper and secretly follows him. This is the halfway point in the projected novel, and Dickens clearly planned to develop these new (or reintroduced) characters to deepen the mystery.

More modern in many ways than his previous novels, the characters here are not simple stereotypes--some are good people who have real flaws and make mistakes. Dickens's tying of Jasper to the church choir, where he was a soloist, suggests some examination of the theme of hypocrisy, in which the good Mr. Crisparkle would be Jasper's antithesis. The opium scenes, vividly drawn, carry the unusual suggestion that opium leads to a kind of intoxication similar to that of alcohol, and Dicken does not use these scenes to offer dire warnings about the drug--at least at this point. Especially intriguing because it is unfinished, this novel continues to fascinate mystery lovers and literary scholars more than a century after its first publication. Mary Whipple

Last year, to celebrate Dickens's bicentennial, I decided to read his last and unfinished novel, fully aware of the frustration that awaited me when it came to be suddenly interrupted half-way (literally), and to make things worse, in a mystery novel with a thick and dark plot, impossible to disentangle at the point where it breaks.

In the fictional town of Cloisterham (Rochester) there lives Rosa, a rich orphan who, through a parental oath, must marry young Edwin Drood as soon as they come of age. Whenever Edwin visits Cloisterham, he stays with his uncle John Jasper, the choirmaster a the Cathedral, who is secretly an opium addict and in hopeless love with Rosa. The popular Reverend Crisparkle becomes the tutor and guardian of a couple of orphans, Neville and Helena Landless (ha!),the latter of whom is hosted at the same boarding school where Rosa lives. Both girls become close friends, just as the two boys become bitter enemies. Jasper, disgracefully, feeds the fire of this enmity, which provokes a very embarrassing and dangerous incident between them. In an attempt at reconciliation on Christmas Eve, the two boys walk down to the river, apparently on friendly terms. But next morning Edwin is nowhere to be found. Alas, there's no further plot to spoil!

The following chapters let us glimpse and then complicate the elements of the mystery: Edwin and Rosa's agreement to dissolve their marriage promise; the Landlesses' origins and relations, as well as the suspicions on the boy's involvement in the case; the role played by Grewgious (a fascinating character), Rosa's lawyer; and some other new, and undeveloped, characters.

Clearly a candidate to be one of Dickens's major works, it is a delightful read that leaves open too many questions: Is Edwin dead or just missing? Who is to blame, if there is anyone? What's the story of the Landless siblings, and what's the role played by their insufferable former tutor, Honeythunder? (Dickens had a genius to find incredible names for his characters), What is Jasper's opium supplier, "Princess Puffer", doing in Cloisterham and asking questions? Who is the enigmatic guy renting a room next door to Jasper? What were Jasper and the undertaker, Durdles, doing in the catacombs of the Cathedral, one dark night?

Too many questions without answers, which have kept readers wondering for 142 years. But there's the wonderful chance to enjoy the imagination and the prose of this inexhaustible writer, a master of both plot and characters, supreme ironist (professional philanthropists take a hard beating here), and unequaled analyst of human nature.

Set in Cloisterham, a cathedral town, Dickens's final novel, unfinished, introduces two elements unusual for Dickens--opium-eating and the church. In the opening scene, John Jasper, music teacher and soloist in the cathedral choir, awakens from an opium trance in a flat with two other semi-conscious men and their supplier, an old woman named Puffer, and then hurries off to daily vespers.

Jasper, aged twenty-six, is the uncle and guardian of Edwin Drood, only a few years younger. Drood has been the fiancé of Rosa Bud for most of his life, an arrangement made by his and Rosa's deceased fathers to honor their friendship, and the wedding is expected within the year. Jasper, Rosa's music teacher, is secretly in love with her, though she finds him repellent.

When two orphans, Helena and Neville Landless, arrive in Cloisterham, Helena and Rosa become friends, and Neville finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Rosa. Ultimately, the hot-tempered Neville and Drood have a terrible argument in which Neville threatens Drood before leaving town on a walking trip. Drood vanishes the same day. Apprehended on his trip, Neville is questioned about Drood's disappearance, and Jasper accuses him of murder.

Tightly organized to this point, the novel shows Jasper himself to be a prime suspect, someone who could have engineered the evidence against Neville, but Dickens unexpectedly introduces some new characters at this point--the mysterious Dick Datchery and Tartar, an old friend of Rev. Mr. Crisparkle, minor canon at the cathedral. Puffer, the opium woman, is reintroduced and appears set to play a greater role, since she solicits information from the semi-conscious Jasper and secretly follows him. This is the halfway point in the projected novel, and Dickens clearly planned to develop these new (or reintroduced) characters to deepen the mystery.

More modern in many ways than his previous novels, the characters here are not simple stereotypes--some are good people who have real flaws and make mistakes. Dickens's tying of Jasper to the church choir, where he was a soloist, suggests some examination of the theme of hypocrisy, in which the good Mr. Crisparkle would be Jasper's antithesis. The opium scenes, vividly drawn, carry the unusual suggestion that opium leads to a kind of intoxication similar to that of alcohol, and Dicken does not use these scenes to offer dire warnings about the drug--at least at this point. Especially intriguing because it is unfinished, this novel continues to fascinate mystery lovers and literary scholars more than a century after its first publication. n Mary Whipple

I've read several reviews here that imply the mystery of Edwin Drood is left unsolved, as the novel is unfinished. It is not, however. The mystery is very clearly resolved. If there was any doubt, or thought that the prime "suspect" was a red herring (something that should be clear from the text is not possible), Dickens' correspondence erases it. So don't let fear of an unsolved mystery keep you from enjoying one of Dickens' best, and most atypical, works.

The style is very different from his past work; the language, the pacing, the opium tinted narrative are all fascinating. It's heartbreaking that the author was taken before he was able to complete what might have been a truly magnificent story.

Set in Cloisterham, a cathedral town, Dickens's final novel, unfinished, introduces two elements unusual for Dickens--opium-eating and the church. In the opening scene, John Jasper, music teacher and soloist in the cathedral choir, awakens from an opium trance in a flat with two other semi-conscious men and their supplier, an old woman named Puffer, and then hurries off to daily vespers.

Jasper, aged twenty-six, is the uncle and guardian of Edwin Drood, only a few years younger. Drood has been the fiancé of Rosa Bud for most of his life, an arrangement made by his and Rosa's deceased fathers to honor their friendship, and the wedding is expected within the year. Jasper, Rosa's music teacher, is secretly in love with her, though she finds him repellent.

When two orphans, Helena and Neville Landless, arrive in Cloisterham, Helena and Rosa become friends, and Neville finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Rosa. Ultimately, the hot-tempered Neville and Drood have a terrible argument in which Neville threatens Drood before leaving town on a walking trip. Drood vanishes the same day. Apprehended on his trip, Neville is questioned about Drood's disappearance, and Jasper accuses him of murder.

Tightly organized to this point, the novel shows Jasper himself to be a prime suspect, someone who could have engineered the evidence against Neville, but Dickens unexpectedly introduces some new characters at this point--the mysterious Dick Datchery and Tartar, an old friend of Rev. Mr. Crisparkle, minor canon at the cathedral. Puffer, the opium woman, is reintroduced and appears set to play a greater role, since she solicits information from the semi-conscious Jasper and secretly follows him. This is the halfway point in the projected novel, and Dickens clearly planned to develop these new (or reintroduced) characters to deepen the mystery.

More modern in many ways than his previous novels, the characters here are not simple stereotypes--some are good people who have real flaws and make mistakes. Dickens's tying of Jasper to the church choir, where he was a soloist, suggests some examination of the theme of hypocrisy, in which the good Mr. Crisparkle would be Jasper's antithesis. The opium scenes, vividly drawn, carry the unusual suggestion that opium leads to a kind of intoxication similar to that of alcohol, and Dicken does not use these scenes to offer dire warnings about the drug--at least at this point. Especially intriguing because it is unfinished, this novel continues to fascinate mystery lovers and literary scholars more than a century after its first publication. n Mary Whipple

Last year, to celebrate Dickens's bicentennial, I decided to read his last and unfinished novel, fully aware of the frustration that awaited me when it came to be suddenly interrupted half-way (literally), and to make things worse, in a mystery novel with a thick and dark plot, impossible to disentangle at the point where it breaks.

In the fictional town of Cloisterham (Rochester) there lives Rosa, a rich orphan who, through a parental oath, must marry young Edwin Drood as soon as they come of age. Whenever Edwin visits Cloisterham, he stays with his uncle John Jasper, the choirmaster a the Cathedral, who is secretly an opium addict and in hopeless love with Rosa. The popular Reverend Crisparkle becomes the tutor and guardian of a couple of orphans, Neville and Helena Landless (ha!),the latter of whom is hosted at the same boarding school where Rosa lives. Both girls become close friends, just as the two boys become bitter enemies. Jasper, disgracefully, feeds the fire of this enmity, which provokes a very embarrassing and dangerous incident between them. In an attempt at reconciliation on Christmas Eve, the two boys walk down to the river, apparently on friendly terms. But next morning Edwin is nowhere to be found. Alas, there's no further plot to spoil!

The following chapters let us glimpse and then complicate the elements of the mystery: Edwin and Rosa's agreement to dissolve their marriage promise; the Landlesses' origins and relations, as well as the suspicions on the boy's involvement in the case; the role played by Grewgious (a fascinating character), Rosa's lawyer; and some other new, and undeveloped, characters.

Clearly a candidate to be one of Dickens's major works, it is a delightful read that leaves open too many questions: Is Edwin dead or just missing? Who is to blame, if there is anyone? What's the story of the Landless siblings, and what's the role played by their insufferable former tutor, Honeythunder? (Dickens had a genius to find incredible names for his characters), What is Jasper's opium supplier, "Princess Puffer", doing in Cloisterham and asking questions? Who is the enigmatic guy renting a room next door to Jasper? What were Jasper and the undertaker, Durdles, doing in the catacombs of the Cathedral, one dark night?

Too many questions without answers, which have kept readers wondering for 142 years. But there's the wonderful chance to enjoy the imagination and the prose of this inexhaustible writer, a master of both plot and characters, supreme ironist (professional philanthropists take a hard beating here), and unequaled analyst of human nature.

Set in Cloisterham, a cathedral town, Dickens's final novel, unfinished, introduces two elements unusual for Dickens--opium-eating and the church. In the opening scene, John Jasper, music teacher and soloist in the cathedral choir, awakens from an opium trance in a flat with two other semi-conscious men and their supplier, an old woman named Puffer, and then hurries off to daily vespers.

Jasper, aged twenty-six, is the uncle and guardian of Edwin Drood, only a few years younger. Drood has been the fiancé of Rosa Bud for most of his life, an arrangement made by his and Rosa's deceased fathers to honor their friendship, and the wedding is expected within the year. Jasper, Rosa's music teacher, is secretly in love with her, though she finds him repellent.

When two orphans, Helena and Neville Landless, arrive in Cloisterham, Helena and Rosa become friends, and Neville finds himself strongly attracted to the lovely Rosa. Ultimately, the hot-tempered Neville and Drood have a terrible argument in which Neville threatens Drood before leaving town on a walking trip. Drood vanishes the same day. Apprehended on his trip, Neville is questioned about Drood's disappearance, and Jasper accuses him of murder.

Tightly organized to this point, the novel shows Jasper himself to be a prime suspect, someone who could have engineered the evidence against Neville, but Dickens unexpectedly introduces some new characters at this point--the mysterious Dick Datchery and Tartar, an old friend of Rev. Mr. Crisparkle, minor canon at the cathedral. Puffer, the opium woman, is reintroduced and appears set to play a greater role, since she solicits information from the semi-conscious Jasper and secretly follows him. This is the halfway point in the projected novel, and Dickens clearly planned to develop these new (or reintroduced) characters to deepen the mystery.

More modern in many ways than his previous novels, the characters here are not simple stereotypes--some are good people who have real flaws and make mistakes. Dickens's tying of Jasper to the church choir, where he was a soloist, suggests some examination of the theme of hypocrisy, in which the good Mr. Crisparkle would be Jasper's antithesis. The opium scenes, vividly drawn, carry the unusual suggestion that opium leads to a kind of intoxication similar to that of alcohol, and Dicken does not use these scenes to offer dire warnings about the drug--at least at this point. Especially intriguing because it is unfinished, this novel continues to fascinate mystery lovers and literary scholars more than a century after its first publication. n Mary Whipple

If Charles Dickens had lived to finish this, this book would probably have been a phenomenal masterpiece. (Sadly, it was not to be.) The material that he did manage to write displays some of his best abilities. We meet John Jasper who does a lot of good work at the cathedral. He also instructs the young Rosa in music. Edwin Drood (John Jasper's nephew who is 20 and only 6 years younger than his uncle) and Rosa are to marry. But they start to get cold feet when they realize that it is at least possible that they are getting married because everyone expects them to.

We also meet Durdles who is a grave stone maker who ironically lives in a: "...little antiquated hole of a house that was never finished." He and John Jasper start to become friends. (Interesting.) We then meet Helena and Neville Landless. By his own confession, Neville is: "...false and mean." Later, Rosa confesses she is afraid of John Jasper. (He seems to be paying too much attention to her during her music lessons.) In an interesting scene Neville and Edwin start to fight, and Jasper alternates between trying to provoke it and cease it.

We then meet the eccentric, but virtuous lawyer Mr. Grewgious. He has come to see Rosa to discuss the terms of her father's will. And again, Rosa is starting to realize the wedding is somewhat prearranged: "My poor papa and Eddy's father made their agreement together." The final straw is when Edwin realizes that he is to use the same wedding ring that Rosa's deceased mother wore.

Interestingly, many scenes of graveyards are presented in this final and unfinished work of Dickens. Durdles in fact talks of a disturbing dream. Well, Rosa and Edwin agree to put things on hold and think about the decision more carefully. With good symbolism, Dickens presents us with a storm to foreshadow some bad events. Edwin disappears and John Jasper blames or at least makes a show that he blames Neville. Did John Jasper murder Edwin and set Neville up to take the fall? We don't know, and we never will. Though it does seem just a bit too obvious. (Only 2 novels earlier, in his "Great Expectations" Dickens did a great job of misleading us into thinking Miss Havisham was Pip's benefactor when it turned out to be Magwitch.)

Interestingly, Jasper seems to grow upset when he hears that Rosa and Edwin had put their wedding plans on hold. (Again, this would lead us to believe that Jasper is thinking he could have had Rosa without foul play, but we don't know and we never will.) Interestingly, Jasper himself admits that Edwin disappeared and may still be alive. (But we never see him again.) We can only speculate that Dickens may have intended to bring Edwin back. (Somewhat like he did to Walter in "Dombey and Son." Walter was presumed drowned, but he did survive and live to marry Dombey's daughter and be part of the happy ending.) Well, later the Reverend Crisparkle finds Edwin's watch at the bottom of the icy river. (So we at least know that Edwin was probably assaulted, but we will never know if he is alive or dead. We can only speculate.)

Neville is released, but he is suffering the damage of a ruined reputation. (Even when one is judged innocent of murder, suspicion still lingers in people's minds.) Jasper again meets with Durdles. We can not help but wonder why Jasper seems so close to a man who makes grave stones. (The obvious reason is of course that if he were to perform murder, it may be of use to have a friend who can provide a few graveyard favors.) Jasper then admits his feelings for Rosa, and she is of course horrified. Naturally, this leads Rosa to suspect that Jasper murdered Edwin to get to her.

But again, there are questions. If he was guilty of murdering Edwin, why does he risk revealing a motive when the heat from Edwin's disappearance is still hot? And especially when Neville has just been released?

In terror, Rosa runs to the eccentric, but virtuous lawyer Mr. Grewgious. (Why not? If he is a lawyer who has served her family well, Rosa knows everything she tells him is confidential.) The benevolent Grewgious offers her sanctuary and then puts her up in an apartment at least until he can figure out more about the situation. Grewgious begins to dislike Jasper.

So, Jasper has a motive, indications of a murder have been shown (the finding of the watch), and the hero Mr. Grewgious starts to suspect Jasper. Cut and dry case? Not on your life! A new character enters just as the book ends. And it is impossible to doubt this new character would have had some major influence in the events of this story. Sadly, we never will know how this was to end. But if we can get past this, the material that WAS written does show some of Dickens's strongest work. Enjoy your everlasting peace Mr. Dickens.

I am inclined to agree with the majority who believe that the crime was in fact murder, and the culprit was in fact the one that Dickens points directly at. I don't think that this Dickens mystery was meant to be your typical mystery with the surprise ending, the culprit being the one you'd least suspect.
If this had been a Mary Higgins Clark mystery, the culprit would have been the best dressed, safest looking man, and the red herring would have been the sleazy looking guy. But I just can't understand why Dickens would have wasted so much description and plot designed to turn us against the leading suspect, only to veer away onto another at the end.
So, with my position being that there really is no big mystery to "who did it", where does the greatness of Dickens show itself in this book? The answer, as always in Dickens novels, is in the characters. We get to meet some hard-to-forget Dickens people, not the least of which is the Raskolnikov-like killer, an opium smoker who loves two people in his world and kills one of them so that he can possess the other.
The missing chapters of the book would have given us the satisfaction of seeing just how the good guys win, and tying a bunch of loose ends together.

If Dickens had managed to finish this, it may have been yet another masterpiece. It is full of convincing characters, dark images, dark humour, and memorable passages. Through Jasper, we are able to see a side of Dickens himself. In one of Dickens' Christmas Books that takes place at an Inn, a character (who I suspect is a representation of Dickens) himself is jealous of a character named Edwin. Interestingly this repeats here. It is also interesting that after Dickens and his wife seperated, he fell in love with a younger woman. Jasper is attracted to a younger woman. It is also striking that in his dying written words, there are many images of graveyards. Even though Dickens died before he could finish this, it is an interesting work. There are many elements that make this book worth looking at. (Interesting dialogues, convincing characters, comical touches, good and dark images, a representation of Dickens himself, etc.) These are also Dickens' final words, and for that reason alone, this book deserves a special place in the museum of literature.

It is a tribute to Charles Dickens' reputation that to this day this unfinished novel, a mystery no less, still garners such speculation as to who allegedly murdered Edwin Drood. There are organizations created for the sole purpose of analyzing the novel and to theorizing whom the culprit may have been, if indeed there really was a culprit. After all, only Drood's watch and his shirt pin are produced, not his body.
As in all of Dickens' novels, the characterizations are the thing. You have the innocent young woman with the somewhat eccentric guardian and his Bob Cratchitlike assistant. There is the dark, possibly unfairly accused, but hot headed antagonist of Drood. Then there is Drood's brooding choirmaster uncle, John Jasper, who frequents opium dens, and who may or may not have ulterior motives in his seeking revenge. Durdles, the stone mason, and a somewhat weird character, provides some chilling comic relief in cemetery scenes with his stone throwing assistant. There are also the typical Dickensian characters, which includes a snooty older woman, a class conscious, spinsterish school mistress, and in a hilarious restaurant scene, an unappreciated, hard working "flying waiter" and a lazy, wise acre "stationary waiter."
It is a shame that Dickens died before he could complete "Edwin Drood." What is here are the beginnings of an exploration of man's dual nature, a journey into "the heart of darkness" so to speak.

Written by one of the greatest, if not the greatest, writers of all-time this literary masterpiece will blow you away and render one speechless. Stark, gritty and candid this realistic masterpiece brings the harshness of the times to life and is so atmospheric. The exquisite detail, descriptiveness and prose are just awe-inspiring, exemplifying how accomplished Charles Dickens was, and is to this day, someone to idolize and revere. This creepy, horrific and disturbingly sinister tale is the equivalent of the modern-day `Jack the Ripper' or `The Woman in Black' but which contains so much more depth. It is and shall remain forever a classic.

Edwin Drood is contracted to marry the orphan Rosa, but when he breaks off the engagement suddenly and disappears questions begin to form in everyone's mind... His Uncle is questioned as to his motives for jealousy, as too is the possibility of murder and so turning detective the reader is swept into a world of danger, deception and deadly deeds. Dickens sadly passed away before completion of this novel, hence the mystery to this day remains unsolved and which will leave you guessing as questions float around in ones mind - waiting for you to form your own opinions on the outcome of this tale. The Dickensian mix of fantastical imaginative creativity and vision combined with the gritty, harsh realities of the age is beautifully done and which makes this novel one of his greatest.

This edition contains new evidence as to how this mystery, and if, it can really be solved together with a chronology, illustrations and appendixes.

Just stopping abruptly short of a most dramatic, climatic ending this story leaves you pondering over all the possibilities and has to be the most thought-provoking work of great literature I have encountered. Containing many alternative theories this edition presents to the reader many different options, in conjunction with the many film adaptations and stage productions that have been made. This truly is a most astonishing, remarkable work that I highly recommend and which is so profoundly affecting that its story will remain with you for all-time, etched deep within the darker recesses of your mind! Sending Goosebumps down my arms and chills running down my spine, this story was so poignant and emotive, brutal and brilliant that it will shake ones inner core. Just spectacular.

Dickens' last novel is very atmospheric (an ancient cathedral town, London opium dens, orphans from Ceylon, etc.). If you have not read any or much Dickens, this would not be the novel to start with. For neophytes, I would recommend Great Expectations or maybe Pickwick Papers. But, if you are a lover of Dickens, you should read his last novel. Drood is unfinished (Dickens died half way through the magazine serialization), so we'll never know how he planned for it to end. But what we have is a great read and you can speculate if Edwin Drood actually was murdered and who murdered him.

Dickens first mystery and his last book that was never finished. It’s a little hard to read and I have my own ideas about how it might have ended. I read it because we were reading The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl and his take got me interested in it.

I really enjoyed this book, and think it could have been the best of the Dickens 'later works'. The plot is thick, with the normal array of interesting characters that make it a page-turner. When I reached the last page, the bottom dropped out of my heart when I realized I would never know how we would wrap it up. In a sense, that makes the book even more intriguing, in that one can extrapolate a number of different ways.

There are so many things to like about this novel- there are quite a few very well-drawn characters, and many that are incredibly sympathetic (like the Landlesses and Mr. Crisparkle) without being irritatingly perfect. Besides this, the villain is not only terrifying, but not as obvious as in some of Dickens' other novels.

For the most part, it is quite convincing as well. The only thing that I could not quite figure out was why so many men would fall in love with Rosa Bud. To me, Rosa was very silly and childish and really had nothing going for her except being young and pretty. I would think that Helena Landless is infinitely more appealing- she is not only brave, but compassionate and devoted to her brother. Despite this, I would definitely recommend it- I give it 4 stars only because it is unfinished!

At the risk of sounding like a philistine, I really wanted to like _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, but was disappointed by it. The plot was convoluted, made all the more difficult as the many loose ends are never tied up; many of the characters are, as a previous reviewer mentioned, a bit two-dimensional; and Dickens' social commentary of Victorian class inequities didn't strike a chord with me.

While I can understand the potential of the novel, and appreciate the appeal of the author, _Edwin Drood_ is not a book I would recommend for those wanting to read some Dickens.

As a suggestion, avoid the Penguin Popular Classics with the plain green covers (I bought two). They fall apart and do not stand up to a read, especially books over 500 pages - and they have no illustrations. The Regular Penguin Classics with the illustration on the front are excellent, and have maps, illustrations, and extensive analysis - sometimes 100 pages. The Wordsworth Classics are not as good.

I finished Edwin Drood by Dickens and was left scratching my head and wondering why this book is so terrible. After all it is written by Dickens. How can it be so bad?

Dickens has many works and this is down at the bottom of the pile. That is not just my opinion or crazy idea. Currently it ranks below rank #120 for Dickens books, over 110 spots below, for example, Oliver Twist and collections of short stories. That is, there are 120 Dickens novels, DVDs, and collections of stories ahead of it.

Edwin Drood is different. It was written about five years after all the others. It is his last novel. All the sympathetic children are missing here and the story is unfinished, maybe only half written. It is a dark novel in both plot and setting. The characters are mostly around 20 to 30 years in age and relatively lifeless or not fully developed since the novel is half finished. The children - made famous in Dickens novels - are replaced by two drug addicts. Even the villain John Jasper lacks any attraction, nor is he as interesting as other famous Dickens villains such as Uriah Heap in David Copperfield.

Edwin Drood and his fiancée, Rosa Bud, make rather weak appearances, and seem two dimensional. The story, which is set near a large cathedral, seems very gray and somber. The ending - as such as it is - is abrupt and ends in the middle of a page with everything left hanging - and too many questions are simply left unresolved and up in the air.

So, this is an unfinished story and not a very attractive story by comparison to Great Expectations or David Copperfield, or any of the great novels by Dickens. Clearly, the writing is a good in Edwin Drood - since it is Dickens doing the writing - but you need characters and a plot to make it interesting, and most of that is missing.

This is a slow and a mostly dreadful read.

This is the ultimate mystery story. The writing is Dickens at his best. He clearly was enjoying contructing a true mystery plot, strewn with red herrings, and...he died when the book was half finished, leaving behind no hint of "who did it." Indeed, it's not even clear that "it" has actually been done. A mystery indeed!

A good word for the edition also. The binding is handsome, the text clear and easy to read.

An excellent edition of this great classic. Dickens shines forever in this superb story which although unfinished, holds the reader's attention in fascinated awe. Atmospheric, fun and scary! What more can you ask for when sitting by the fire on a cold autumn evening?

This book is disappointing because it was never finished by Charles Dickens. it leaves you hanging in the middle of a chapter because Charles Dickens died that day. This was the last book he ever wrote.