The Redemption Murders

by J.C. Briggs

1 out of 5

Synopsis

A new murder case has fallen in the laps of Charles Dickens and Superintendent Jones! Perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Victorian crime mysteries, A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield…

The sea gave up its dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.…

London, 1851

The Thames River Police are called to The Redemption, a ship docked at London’s Blackwall Reach.

Louis Valentine, the ship’s captain, has been stabbed to death.

With no murder weapon on site, and no signs of a robbery, the only clue is a copy of Charles Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop.

The book is not inscribed to Valentine but to someone called Kit.

When Charles Dickens realises his good friend Kit Penney is now a murder suspect, he is determined to clear his name.

But Kit has gone missing.

With the help of Superintendent Sam Jones, Dickens starts to investigate the troubled last journey of The Redemption.

It seems there was more than one suspicious death on board. But were they murders? And did the same person attack Captain Valentine?

Dickens and Jones begin a desperate search for Kit – and for the key to the dark secrets bound up in The Redemption…

The Redemption Murders is the sixth urban mystery in J. C. Briggs’ literary historical series, the Charles Dickens investigations, a traditional British detective series set in Victorian London.

Review

When a ship's captain is stabbed to death, Charles Dickens aides the police.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the sixth book in the Charles Dickens & Superintendent Jones series. As it has a new cast of suspects and victims, I didn't feel at a disadvantage for not having read the rest of the series.

The Redemption has travelled the world, transporting goods for trade, under the command of Louis Valentine, a man who all seem to like.

The captain starts to think that his voyage is cursed, when one traveller dies and another disappears; but he probably didn't see his own death coming.

Unfortunately, I did not get on with this book.

I've tried a few times over the last month, but I just can't get into the writing style.

I felt like I was being talked at by a variety of characters who shared every inconsequential detail of their lives.

Having the captain spend a couple of pages musing over the different sorts of knots he used in his life, did nothing to add to the story or world-building.

I did not find the writing style engaging, and all of the characters blurred into one interminable episode of telling.

There are deaths and disappearances within the first few pages of the book, it should have been a gripping start, but I was merely bored.

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