annieb123's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Murder By Ghostlight is the third murder mystery featuring a fictionalized Charles Dickens solving crime in partnership with his friend Superintendent Sam Jones. Released 24th Jan 2019 by Sapere, it's 277 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is a genuinely entertaining and well written historical mystery interwoven into a framework of historical fact. The dialogue and plotting are well paced and the setting (early Victorian Manchester) is enough of a departure from the almost de rigueur London to add another level of enjoyment for me. The characters are very well drawn and the plot is well paced. My only minor quibble with the characterizations is the slightly twee inclusion of secondary characters throughout the books who figure heavily into the historical Dickens' actual oeuvre. I don't doubt that Dickens used real people as inspirations for his characters - there's enough actual canonical documentation to prove that he did. I just found it distracting that one popped up every couple of chapters in this book.
Possibly worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is included in the KU subscription library. This is a fun and worthwhile series especially for lovers of historical British crime fiction.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Murder By Ghostlight is the third murder mystery featuring a fictionalized Charles Dickens solving crime in partnership with his friend Superintendent Sam Jones. Released 24th Jan 2019 by Sapere, it's 277 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is a genuinely entertaining and well written historical mystery interwoven into a framework of historical fact. The dialogue and plotting are well paced and the setting (early Victorian Manchester) is enough of a departure from the almost de rigueur London to add another level of enjoyment for me. The characters are very well drawn and the plot is well paced. My only minor quibble with the characterizations is the slightly twee inclusion of secondary characters throughout the books who figure heavily into the historical Dickens' actual oeuvre. I don't doubt that Dickens used real people as inspirations for his characters - there's enough actual canonical documentation to prove that he did. I just found it distracting that one popped up every couple of chapters in this book.
Possibly worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is included in the KU subscription library. This is a fun and worthwhile series especially for lovers of historical British crime fiction.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
eserafina42's review against another edition
3.0
Murder by Ghostlight is the third entry in a mystery series featuring Charles Dickens. While in Manchester, performing with his troupe of amateur actors, he finds himself under arrest for murder when one of the actors is found dead on stage with Dickens standing over him holding a gun. When he is able to convince the police of his innocence, he joins with Inspector Hardacre of Manchester and his London friend Superintendent Sam Jones to find the murderer, especially as the same man has also killed a young actress for whom he had felt a fatherly protectiveness. A sprawling plotline ensues, encompassing visits to the grim slums of Manchester, Dickens’ personal and charitable interests, mistaken identity, and of course additional murders.
I enjoyed this book and the author has obviously done extensive research into Dickens’ life and activities, including a brief historical note at the end detailing the genesis of the idea for this particular plot. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic, and I could particularly identify with the author himself as he was sitting in jail wondering if he would be able to clear his name and thinking of his past experiences, although even with Dickens’ imaginative reconstruction I still didn’t feel like I had a sufficient understanding of the murderer,.The poverty and desperation, particularly in Manchester, which so particularly engaged the historical Dickens, was particularly well drawn. It was also a plus that I didn’t feel lost coming in on the third book, even though there were a few brief mentions of the previous case. Despite it being a little slow paced for my taste, with possibly a few too many coincidences, I will still consider looking up the other books in the series.
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book and the author has obviously done extensive research into Dickens’ life and activities, including a brief historical note at the end detailing the genesis of the idea for this particular plot. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic, and I could particularly identify with the author himself as he was sitting in jail wondering if he would be able to clear his name and thinking of his past experiences, although even with Dickens’ imaginative reconstruction I still didn’t feel like I had a sufficient understanding of the murderer,.The poverty and desperation, particularly in Manchester, which so particularly engaged the historical Dickens, was particularly well drawn. It was also a plus that I didn’t feel lost coming in on the third book, even though there were a few brief mentions of the previous case. Despite it being a little slow paced for my taste, with possibly a few too many coincidences, I will still consider looking up the other books in the series.
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘She could hardly believe that Mr Dickens had been taken into custody.’
Manchester, 1850. Charles Dickens and his company of friends are performing ‘Money’, a play by Edward Bulwer-Lytton at the Queen’s Theatre. At the end of the evening’s performance, Charles Dickens and the other members of the cast had dined at the Concert Tavern, but Dickens then returned to the Theatre. Something had bothered him.
‘The theatre was quiet now, the stage illuminated only weakly by the ghostlight left on for safety, and by the oil lamp burning down.’
He finds a man dead on stage. There’s a pistol on the floor. Dickens hears a noise, he fires the pistol and shortly after finds himself arrested for murder. Will Dickens be able to convince the authorities of his innocence?
With the help of his good friend Superintendent Sam Jones of Bow Street, Dickens is released pending further investigation. Naturally, Dickens wants to find out who the killer was. He and Superintendent Jones, together with the Manchester Police, set out to investigate.
The investigation takes them into the slums of Manchester as well as into the streets of London. They quickly make some rather disconcerting discoveries and uncover a mystery or two. In the meantime, the murders continue. And as the story builds to its climax, Dickens himself is at risk.
This is Ms Briggs’s third novel in this series, and I enjoyed it as much as the first two. Dickens and Jones work well together: they are both aware of the inequalities in society and each is determined to do his bit to change them. This leads to some engaging secondary characters as well as some insights into where Dickens took inspiration for some of his novels. For those who’ve read the earlier books, some familiar characters will make an appearance. While this novel can be read as a standalone, I strongly recommend reading the series in order.
Highly recommended, and I am now looking out for the fourth novel in the series.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Manchester, 1850. Charles Dickens and his company of friends are performing ‘Money’, a play by Edward Bulwer-Lytton at the Queen’s Theatre. At the end of the evening’s performance, Charles Dickens and the other members of the cast had dined at the Concert Tavern, but Dickens then returned to the Theatre. Something had bothered him.
‘The theatre was quiet now, the stage illuminated only weakly by the ghostlight left on for safety, and by the oil lamp burning down.’
He finds a man dead on stage. There’s a pistol on the floor. Dickens hears a noise, he fires the pistol and shortly after finds himself arrested for murder. Will Dickens be able to convince the authorities of his innocence?
With the help of his good friend Superintendent Sam Jones of Bow Street, Dickens is released pending further investigation. Naturally, Dickens wants to find out who the killer was. He and Superintendent Jones, together with the Manchester Police, set out to investigate.
The investigation takes them into the slums of Manchester as well as into the streets of London. They quickly make some rather disconcerting discoveries and uncover a mystery or two. In the meantime, the murders continue. And as the story builds to its climax, Dickens himself is at risk.
This is Ms Briggs’s third novel in this series, and I enjoyed it as much as the first two. Dickens and Jones work well together: they are both aware of the inequalities in society and each is determined to do his bit to change them. This leads to some engaging secondary characters as well as some insights into where Dickens took inspiration for some of his novels. For those who’ve read the earlier books, some familiar characters will make an appearance. While this novel can be read as a standalone, I strongly recommend reading the series in order.
Highly recommended, and I am now looking out for the fourth novel in the series.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
nickimags's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was the third book in this fab series featuring Charles Dickens and his policeman friend Superintendent Jones. It was good to hear another story with them both as it feels like meeting up with old friends.
This story starts out with Dickens himself being accused of murder, and being caught with the murder weapon! Fortunately Superintendent Jones happens to be in Manchester and comes to his aid. As they look at the case and as it becomes more it complicated, they realise who’s behind it and rush to find the suspect before more bodies are discovered.
Just like in the first book the descriptions of Victorian London were so vivid, that at times I felt like I was listening to a Dickens novel! I didn’t have a clue who the murderer was, so just enjoyed the story instead.
Once again Antony Ferguson was brilliant at portraying Dickens, Superintendent Jones and a whole host of characters throughout the story. He really did bring Victorian London to life with the different accents of the young and old, rich and poor, the good and bad characters that filled this story.
I thoroughly recommend this book to lovers of historical crime fiction, particularly if you enjoy books set in Victorian times.
This is definitely a favourite series of mine, and I can’t wait to hear the next audiobook!
Thanks so much to Hope Roy at Tantor Media for my digital copy.
This story starts out with Dickens himself being accused of murder, and being caught with the murder weapon! Fortunately Superintendent Jones happens to be in Manchester and comes to his aid. As they look at the case and as it becomes more it complicated, they realise who’s behind it and rush to find the suspect before more bodies are discovered.
Just like in the first book the descriptions of Victorian London were so vivid, that at times I felt like I was listening to a Dickens novel! I didn’t have a clue who the murderer was, so just enjoyed the story instead.
Once again Antony Ferguson was brilliant at portraying Dickens, Superintendent Jones and a whole host of characters throughout the story. He really did bring Victorian London to life with the different accents of the young and old, rich and poor, the good and bad characters that filled this story.
I thoroughly recommend this book to lovers of historical crime fiction, particularly if you enjoy books set in Victorian times.
This is definitely a favourite series of mine, and I can’t wait to hear the next audiobook!
Thanks so much to Hope Roy at Tantor Media for my digital copy.
robinlovesreading's review
4.0
Charles Dickens is on the set where he is performing in a play. When a fellow actor is found murdered, Charles is arrested for the crime. The night's performance went off without a hitch and the cast met at a Tavern afterwards. After that, for some reason, Charles headed back to the theater. This is when Charles found the man's dead body lying on the stage. Startled by a sudden noise, Charles grabbed the pistol that was lying next to the man and fired off a warning shot. This led to his subsequent arrest.
Of course Charles is innocent. However, will he be able to convince the authorities of this? What of superintendent Sam Jones, his friend and also the policeman Charles has worked with previously to solve other murders?
As always, the author delivers an excellent story in this series. We continually get to know Charles, his writing, his family and his take when it comes to solving crimes. The fact that he is the principal suspect makes this book even more enjoyable. This quick read was packed with great suspense, interesting and compelling characters and a surprising conclusion.
Many thanks to Sapere Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Of course Charles is innocent. However, will he be able to convince the authorities of this? What of superintendent Sam Jones, his friend and also the policeman Charles has worked with previously to solve other murders?
As always, the author delivers an excellent story in this series. We continually get to know Charles, his writing, his family and his take when it comes to solving crimes. The fact that he is the principal suspect makes this book even more enjoyable. This quick read was packed with great suspense, interesting and compelling characters and a surprising conclusion.
Many thanks to Sapere Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
vesper1931's review
3.0
1850 Manchester and Charles Dickens in on a stage holding a gun with a dead man nearby and thereby he becomes the prime suspect. With the help of Superintendent Jones of Bow Street they aim to find the real murderer.
The mystery was interesting enough. The story did drag at some points, with too much description, and I didn't like the dialogue in the vernacular as it stopped the flow of the story when I had to go back to make out what had been said.
A NetGalley Book
The mystery was interesting enough. The story did drag at some points, with too much description, and I didn't like the dialogue in the vernacular as it stopped the flow of the story when I had to go back to make out what had been said.
A NetGalley Book
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