I requested this from NetGalley because the cover was pretty and it’s a Dicken’s inspired novel! I like (and know enough) about his work that fanfic like this is interesting and something that I would like to try reading.

In A Tale of Two Murders, Charles Dickens is drawn into the role of a detective when the girl living next to his editor is murdered. Because another girl in the neighbourhood died the same way a year ago, and stricken by the lovely Kate Hogarth, his editor’s daughter, Dickens decides to find the truth of what happened.

Though he isn’t part of the upper class, the mother of the dead girl, Lady Lugoson, also suspects murder and she helps to open doors. However, Dickens soon comes across family secrets and he must decide which of the many suspects is the actual culprit.

To be honest, this book started off a little slowly for me. For some reason, I found the language a little clunky, which made immersing myself in the story and the time period harder. It was only after a few chapters that I managed to get into the rhythm of the story and start to wonder about who killed poor Miss Lugoson.

Apart from the language, one thing that made it harder for me to get into the story was that the murder plot wasn’t the most dominant. I felt that the start of the book was preoccupied with Dicken’s budding relationship with Kate Hogarth and that influenced his actions more than getting to the truth. While their romance is very sweet and I admire Kate for knowing what she wants and sticking to it, it felt like half or more the story was a romance, which wasn’t what I wanted to read.

Speaking of Kate, I really liked her character! She’s a sensible young lady, and it was refreshing to see the female lead portrayed as equally capable as the male lead. Although she couldn’t be there when Dickens made some important discoveries because they weren’t married, I like how she spoke her mind and wasn’t afraid to contradict Dickens.

I’m not too sure about how accurate the portrayal of Dickens was, though. He seems like a idealist romantic here, but I have read that his marriage didn’t go very smoothly, so I do wonder how accurately the book portrayed him.

Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable book. It took some time for me to get into the story, but I enjoyed it once I was caught up. If you’re a fan of Charles Dickens, you’ll probably want to give it a try.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Tale of Two Murders shows us a 22-year-old Charles Dickens as an aspiring journalist at The Evening Chronicle as he tries to unravel the mystery behind two possibly connected murders.

The book starts off with Charles having dinner with his boss’s family and enjoying the attentions of Kate Hogarth, his boss’s daughter and also his future wife, when they hear a piercing scream coming from the neighbouring house. Charles, Kate, and Mr. Hogarth head over to the Lugosons’ house to investigate and find an unconscious Miss Christiana Lugoson. Kate and Charles stay with her throughout the night, but unfortunately she passes away the next morning due to mysterious reasons. Soon after, Charles learns that another girl has died a very similar death on the same day a year ago, which leaves him wondering; could it be a coincidence? Or are both these deaths connected somehow? Charles and Miss Hogarth decide to uncover the truths behind the girls’ deaths together, which also happens to give them an excuse to spend more time in each other’s company, to Charles’s delight.

“Give me a mystery, Mr. Dickens, and a solution, and I will follow you into places I should not.”

There were many things to appreciate in this book, such as a cast of characters at the start of the book, which really helped because the characters had a tendency to get mixed up at times. It was also obvious that the author had put a lot of research into this book as her description of the Victorian era came across as incredibly accurate, and the language used was spot on. It was really interesting to read about the formalities and the rules of courtship in this era as well.

I really admired Kate Hogarth’s character and loved how fearless and intelligent she was. Seeing her relationship with Charles unfold was very interesting. I also loved all the subtle references to A Tale of Two Cities as there were several “I see what you did there” moments.

That being said, while the plot of this book was very intriguing, its execution could have been better. The story dragged on for a while, as the investigation was going around in a circle and no real progress was being made. It was only towards the end that things started to happen, so it was a struggle to get through the middle part of the book. It was also hard to follow their train of thought sometimes as I was lost more than once by how they reached certain conclusions.

This book felt like reading a classic, which was both a good and bad thing for me. Since I have never read a classic before, it was definitely a challenge to get used to the writing style, and it was probably one of the reasons I was lost at times. However, for someone who is used to reading classics or historically set novels, the writing style would be no problem.

The biggest issue I had with A Tale of Two Murders, however, was how it lacked jaw dropping moments. Although the reveal of the killer was surprising, it didn’t leave me completely surprised. This was kind of disappointing since “jaw dropping moments” are what you expect from a mystery novel. Plus I had already figured out the killer a chapter before it was revealed, which made the reveal even less surprising.

Regardless of all that, Heather Redmond’s version of how Charles Dickens was inspired to write the infamous A Tale of Two Cities was fascinating. I would recommend it if you were a Charles Dickens fan or a classic lover!

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Sadly now that it's over all that keeps coming to mind is "Wow that was tedious."
I love books that take real historical characters and flesh them out in ways we wouldn't have imagined. I loved the idea of Charles Dickens investigating murders. Unfortunately I found him kind of a lousy detective... In every interview he pretty much told everyone everything. Most good detectives play things a little closer to the vest. The story is mostly comprised of interviews of suspects with some bits of plot in between. And unlike most murder mysteries, nothing ill befalls those investigating. Typically, you start poking around (especially announcing to all the world what it is you're doing), and a murderer starts trying harder to cover tracks and tie up loose ends. Bad things happen when people start asking questions - usually at least one person has a close call with death themselves, or someone tries to warn them off. It may be a cliche of murder mysteries, but you gotta admit it still makes them more exciting. But nothing happened here. Our dynamic duo just kept interviewing everyone and eventually solve the case.
I really like the characters. I enjoyed seeing Dickens's character working hard to realize his dreams and overcome his past, and I liked his relationship with Kate. I just didn't think the mystery was all that intriguing.

In 1835, a young Charles Dickens is on the rise as a journalist for the Evening Chronicle. He becomes smitten with his editor's daughter, young Kate Hogarth. One evening at dinner they hear a scream from the house next door and the mystery begins. By morning, a young woman will be dead. After discovering that a similar crime occurred one year ago, Charles and Kate start their quest to solve the crime. I really liked this book. I thought it was interesting, and I love books involving real people (even if it is based on the author's imagination). I also like books that encourage further exploration. I looked up Charles Dickens and discovered that he really did marry Kate Hogarth and they had 10 children together. I hope the author writes more books about Dickens and Kate! A good mystery!

On the evening of 6th January 1835, Charles Dickens is having tea with the Hogarth family when a scream is heard. Going to the neighbour's house they find an ill Miss Christiana Lugoson. Who unfortunately by morning will be dead. Suspiciously on the anniversary of a previous death last year. Dickens feels that he must investigate and is helped in his endeavours by Catherine Hogarth.
An enjoyable and interesting mystery with thankfully not too much emphasis on romance. The characters were a likeable group who hopefully will turn up in the next book.

What a delightful bit of fan fiction! For fans of Charles Dickens, you will love this fun mystery, where the main character - none other than Dickens himself - decides to investigate two mysterious deaths. While at times the I found the main character a bit boring, the story kept moving nicely with a set of fantastic supporting characters. This was an enjoyable mystery, and I did not guess the ending!

A solid historical mystery, well written and with an interesting and enjoyable plot.
The characters are realistic and well researched, the plot is atmospheric and fascinating.
I loved the style of writing and I was hooked since the beginning.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC

A Tale of Two Murders is a historical fiction mystery that follows a fictional Charles Dickens as a journalist in his early twenties. After being present when a young girl falls ill and ultimately dies, he starts investigating and discovers that another girl died the same way exactly one year before. He is determined to solve these murders and he has the help of his crush, Miss Hogarth, his brother, and a several others he meets along the way.

As far as mysteries go, this was enjoyable. I feel that all conclusions were reached fairly and competently, which is usually my issue with mysteries: the answer to the big question is seemingly plucked from thin air. This book did a great job of keeping everything moving along to the end. Although, we never do find out why both girls were murdered on the same day.

I wouldn't say I'm a huge historical fiction reader but I have read a bit and this book didn't come across as completely believable for me in that regard. It could just be my lack of knowledge in this era but Miss Hogarth seemed to be a little too conveniently forward or proper to make it seem genuine. The dialogue wasn't very exciting or clever but I've read worse. I'll probably give this series another chance by reading the next book.

A Tale of Two Murders, book one of the A Dickens of a Crime series, is a good read. Looking forward to more in the series.
3 1/2 stars.

A nice start to what I expect will be a long running series featuring Charles Dickens and Kate Hogarth, who will eventually become his wife. Who killed Christiana and what the heck is going on? Poison? Why? The charm of this is in imagining Dickens- and Kate- as young people investigating mysteries. There are a few red herrings and there's interesting atmospherics from the era. While this would have benefited from some polishing and I'd like to see the characters rounded out and the plot holes smoothed in future installments. Don't take it too seriously and you'll have a good read. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. This is for fans of Victorian murder mysteries.

'A Tale of Two Murders' is a fictional story involving a young Charles Dickens, working as a journalist and combining both a wish to court and catch Kate Hogarth, his boss's daughter (and his future wife) and on the hunt for the potential murderer of more than one affluent young woman in the locale. The setting is 1835 and Dickens is a hardworking and ambitious 22-year-old, seemingly doing the impossible and managing to work, play detective and pay court to his lady love - mostly on foot and without sleep. There is something endearing about the moments shared between the two young sweethearts as their romance blossoms, but there are also times where the plot drags and the language feels a little contrived and affected - this is possibly where we see the modernisms and American touches making an appearance, but the effort is valiant in terms of evoking a clear sense of the time period, with touches that show a great deal of research has gone into the completion of the writing.
The character of Dickens is both engaging and annoying in parts and it is hard to know how much this really feels like the Dickens known to the world; however, as a fictional character, it works better and his dogged determination to capture the killer is impressive. There are moments where the storyline and pace appear to drag a little, but we get there in the end and it is worth reading as a cleverly worked idea, using familiar nods to Dickens' work and the Victorian sense of time and place for its sheer entertainment value.

A wonderfully imagined historical mystery with Charles Dickens and his future wife as sleuths. Set in 1830s London and as atmospheric and twisty as all get out! 5/5

Thanks to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#AtaleOfTwoMurders #NetGalley

This review won’t be in my normal format as I find it hard to review mystery books as I don’t want to give anything away!

I did really enjoy this book. It literally had me guessing the whole time. I had absolutely no idea who the murder was until that person was confessing at 95% of the way through the book. This book kept me hooked and I was so intrigued by all the characters. There were scandals and secrets at every turn and that keeps you on your toes!

I enjoyed our main character, Charles Dickens, however, I don’t know anything about the real Charles Dickens, so I was unable to actually make a connection except the name. But as I said I did enjoy him. I liked that he was an amateur of sorts. I’m used to reading Hercule Poirot mysteries and he is a pro at it. But in this one young Charles was just taking any hint he could get and he changed his mind nearly every chapter about what things were important and who was suspected.
Other characters I liked were Fred who is Charles brother. He was funny and interesting and I think that was because he was that bit younger. William was another interesting character that I enjoyed. Also, Miss Kate Hogarth was enjoyable. I loved that we had a female of that era that was able to come in and help and even though some of the males tried to think of her as too delicate to hear about such things she proved them wrong. Julie was awesome too. I liked that she was a bit rowdier and modern compared to most of these old-fashioned proper people in the book.

I also enjoyed the setting of the book which was 1835 London. I don’t usually read historical books set that far back as my prefered Historical fiction is WW2 based but I found it very interesting.

"A Tale of Two Murders" tells the tale of a young Charles Dickens (not yet the well known author, but at the point writing for a local newspaper) investigating the strange death of a young woman living near his editor. He is accompanied by the editor's daughter (and his future spouse) and several other associates and they discover a similar case of another young woman dying in the same fashion, leading to a complicated web of would-be star-crossed lovers, and family ties that are not as they seem. The story has its requisite plot twists and a slow simmering romance between Dickens and Kate Hogarth, the latter of which is typical of a Victorian romance - proper, respectful and (mostly) chaste, though it moved slower than expected. The investigation was conducted with an even balance of logic and fancy, as several red herrings abound. It's clear to see how this (fictitious) mystery would inspire Dickens to write his stories.

I'm not quite sure how much (if any) historical exposition was used to develop the character of Kate Hogarth, as she seems to "modern" for Victorian times. Nevertheless, I would be interested to read more from this series, as Dickens and Hogarth make for a formidable crime solving duo.

A tale to f Two Murders ⭐️⭐️⭐️by Heather Redmond

A clever idea on the author’s part, combining famous Charles Dickens as a sleuth in 1835.

The facts about George Hogarth and his family were quite on spot and the weaving of these characters in this murder melange as I said was clever.

I thought the murders where interesting but the story a bit too long.

I will, however, read this author again.

I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, I'm incredibly sad to say that I did not liked this book at all, as you can see by my star rate. I was so excited for it, coming from a book like Stalking Jack the Ripper, I felt like I was about to find another author to fallow, but it just didn't work for me.

At first i thought I wouldn't like the narrative, because it felt a little amateur on the first 25% of the book, specially with the presentation of the characters - it felt much like a fanfiction other than a book about to be published. But in the end the narrative wasn't a problem, it ended up being OK - not great but not bad either.

But I couldn't connect to the characters, specially the main ones - and i REALLY hated Charles, at first he was like the smartest person, he could figure things out from the smallest details, but at 50% when we could already see who the killer was, he became the dumbst character of them all.

I felt the story was so very slow paced, everytime I felt we were getting somewhere, the author would sent us back to the beggining, breaking the rhytim of the story. It also had very detailed and unnecessary description of the scenes, that made it feel like I was reading for ages, instead of 2 or 3 pages.

The romance between Charles and Katie also felt very cold, it had nothing of the slow burn of victorian love stories that makes you feel like you gonna die everytime they look at each other. And honestly, the female rivaltry really bothered me, cause it added nothing to the story, it helped with nothing, but to build the feel of a love triangle - that also had no meaning in the story. I do undersd that for being a victorian story such behavior is expected, but I don't think that writing a historical romance means that it can't be modern, there're so many of them that get to be on point and NOT sexist. Honestly, it felt like I was reading a romance written by a white 19's century man, and its not a compliment.

With that said, I can say that my 2 star rating is for the mystery that was interesting and held my attention enough that I could finish the book. But I am still very disappointed with this and will not buy it or recommend it to my friends.

A delight. A solid murder mystery with some romance—I enjoyed getting to know Mr. Dickens and Kate a little better through this fiction. The story was satisfying and set the stage for more tales to come. I hope to read about further adventures in the future.

I am conflicted about this style of historical fiction wherein the life of actual person is re-imagined and fictionalised. In this case it is life of young Charles Dickens This is the second book I read this year that employs this method, the first was The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes. I must say that Redmond's attempt was in far better taste.

In A Tale of Two Murders we meet a young Charles Dickens who is struggling to rise above the poverty of his childhood. He is in London working as a journalist and his younger brother Fred is in his charge. Charles is being mentored by the owner of the newspaper he works and the young man is quite enarmoured by this boss's eldest daughter, Kate. There's a death at the start of the novel and Charles and Kate are intrigued. The begin to investigate.

The story development is slow but if you stick to it, the twists and intrigues and scandals are many.
It is worth the read.

If you enjoy historical fiction and do not mind the fictionalisation of real people and you are fan of Charles Dickens, you'll enjoy this tale.

A nice premise of mixing a murder story with the young life of Charles Dickens and his future wife Kate Hogarth. This brings us a fresh look at Charles young life and his start as a journalist. He is at his bosses house hoping to romance his daughter Kate when screams from the neighbors’ house brings a death. This copies a death the previous year. Charles feels he must investigate with the help of Kate. There are plenty of interesting characters met along the way to a gripping finale. It will be interesting to see which of these supporting characters make it into future stories. I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"A very little key will open a very heavy door." (Charles Dickens)

Just the right pressure and just the right persistence can shed light on even the darkest of situations.

January of 1835 in Bromptom, outside of London, ushers in the New Year and adds the age-old desire for an Epiphany celebration. Families dine at their tables whether in abundance or in simple appreciation of even the most meager of a shared meal. Tradition reigns.

Heather Redmond introduces us to a twenty-two year old Charles Dickens who is dining in the home of his editor. Charles is recently launching his career as an entry level journalist at the Evening Chronicle. The lively Hogarth family welcomes him. But Charles' eye is held in the direction of Kate, the nineteen year old daughter, who brightens the room with her wit and her loveliness.

As dessert is being served, a loud scream is heard coming from the home of Lady Lugoson, the barron's widow, who lives next door. Charles and Kate pound on their door and gain admittance. They find that Christina Lugoson, the young daughter, has fainted and appears quite ill. Both Charles and Kate remain there while Kate attends to the girl who is burning with fever. Their vigil ends by morning when Christina succombs to this strange attack.

Lady Lugoson's dinner guests fear for their own safety after the kitchen is ordered to be stripped and cleaned. Was this quite the accident or was this an intentional poisoning? Charles soon discovers that another girl died about a year ago. She was desperately ill as was Christina. Was this just a fluke or is there some kind of connection between the two deaths? More importantly, who was responsible and why?

Heather Redmond's portrayal of Charles Dickens at such a young age and under these circumstances is a delightful fictional tale into this Victorian period. The characters are presented with plenty of secrets lurking behind closed doors. Neighbors seem to show their faces in their own self-directed light. With Redmond's deft writing we experience a growing relationship between Charles and Kate. There's not the burden of the heaviness of romance that would otherwise overshadow the storyline. Hopefully, Heather Redmond will slip these two into the next book. Well worth waiting for........

I received a copy of A Tale of Two Murders through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Kensington Books and to Heather Redmond for the opportunity.