"On the eve of the Victorian era, London has a new sleuth...

In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper's co-editor, Charles is smitten with his boss's daughter, vivacious nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the pleasant evening. Charles, Kate, and her father rush to the neighbors' home, where Miss Christiana Lugoson lies unconscious on the floor. By morning, the poor young woman will be dead.

When Charles hears from a colleague of a very similar mysterious death a year ago to the date, also a young woman, he begins to suspect poisoning and feels compelled to investigate. The lovely Kate offers to help—using her social position to gain access to the members of the upper crust, now suspects in a murder. If Charles can find justice for the victims, it will be a far, far better thing than he has ever done. But with a twist or two in this most peculiar case, he and Kate may be in for the worst of times..."

Ever since I read Terry Pratchett's Dodger I've been interested in a young Charles Dickens and his work at the Evening Chronicle.

I love it when an historical mystery really draws me back to another time. In A Tale of Two Murders, Heather Redmond achieves total immersion into Victorian London. In this first book of her new series, a young Charles Dickens and his future wife, Kate Hogarth set out to unravel a complex mystery involving the deaths of two young women, one year apart. The characters are believable and engaging, their actions true to the era, and the mystery compelling. I enjoyed this story and look forward to more of this series.

This historical fiction novel and murder mystery is set in 19th century England and features a young Charles Dickens, as he is starting to make his way in the world as a journalist. He is visiting the family of his editor, Mr. Hogarth, one fateful night, when a young neighbouring girl is taken ill and ultimately dies. There is something suspicious about this death, and Charles suspects foul play. His suspicions are strengthened when he hears that another young woman in the neighbourhood died under similar dubious circumstances a year earlier. He resolves to get to the bottom of it, not only because his journalist’s instincts are awakened, but also in an attempt to protect the other young women of the area from suffering a similar fate. Among which is Kate Hogarth, the daughter of his editor, with whom Charles is rather taken (she later became his wife).

Intriguing premise, but this ultimately did not deliver for me. I found that there were too many characters and I spent half the book thinking “who is this now again?”. The problem is also that you don’t really get to know most of the characters, so it’s also difficult to get into the story from that angle. The plot gets buried under excessive amounts of description and dialogue, and failed to keep my interest. I also found the conclusion of the mystery a little unsatisfying as I would have liked more build-up to it, which could have been done through amongst other things getting to know the main players in the drama better, and maybe dropping some clues a little earlier on.

As far as I can tell, it does seem to be historically accurate and the language is period appropriate. I’m sure a lot of research went into it, though personally I would have liked a little more focus on the plot and characters.

So if you enjoy books that are heavy on description and dialogue and focus less on character development and plot, and/or you are a big fan of Dickens or (pre) Victorian England, this may be a good choice for you. For me it unfortunately fell a little short of expectations.

I thoroughly enjoyed this Victorian era mystery. The characters were interesting, and you can tell that Redmond did her research when crafting this tale. I loved the atmosphere she created, and the story was intriguing. I did feel that it dragged just a teeny bit towards the middle, but overall it was quite good and one I'd recommend to historical fiction fans.

Thanks Kensington Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Redmond gives us a tale for the ages. Loved her version of Dickens and Kate. As much a murder mystery as a romance and foundation for further stores- its just right.

"A Tale of Two Murders" is a mystery set in 1835 in England. Vivid historical and setting details were woven into the story, making it feel like these events could really have happened. The author tried to stay true to what is known about Charles Dickens' career and lifestyle in his early twenties, but the mystery is fictional. The mood of the story was somber.

The characters were interesting and acted realistically, and I cared about what happened to them. The author also used correct manners and attitudes for the time, so Kate and Charles had to be careful about their behavior together. Charles and his friends found some inventive ways to gain access to people to ask them questions. He wanted to uncover why two girls had died on the same night a year apart. I did not correctly guess whodunit until the final clues fell in place, and Charles had it figured out by then, too.

There were only a few uses of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd highly recommend this interesting mystery.

The year is 1835 and the young Charles Dickens is a journalist with the Evening Chronicles newspaper. One evening, while dining at George Hogarth's estate, his editor, they hear a scream and rush over to the Lugoson's home. A pleasant evening turns into a dismal one, when they find the young miss Christiana lying unconscious on the floor and by the next morning, she passed away. Charles later found out that exactly a year ago, a young woman also passed away under mysterious circumstances. A mere coincidence? His journalist instinct compels him to investigate these two deaths and hence a tale of two murders begins.

While I find the plot is fascinating, unfortunately the storytelling was dull, trite and filled with too many unnecessary parts that is not really pivotal to the mystery. It seemed to drag on for a long time in the middle of the story and went on in circles without any progress in the investigation. It was a struggle for me to continue and my interest in the mystery faded from here onwards.

There is definitely connection with the characters since it is a character driven story. There are a lot of dialogues and interactions between the characters to the point of obscuring the mystery. The main plot fades away and replaced by the courtship between Charles and Kate (George Hogarth's daughter). While I do welcome some light romance in a story but I felt the whole story here was preponderated by their courtship.

That being said, the positive thing about this book is the language used. I think it is quite spot on with the era. No profanity of language and I appreciate that a lot. The writing is pretty good too. Redmond is able to deliver a good background setting for the story through her descriptive writing.

In a nutshell, A Tale of Two Murders is an average read for me. I always enjoy reading historical fiction with historical characters in it - a blend of fact & fiction. Albeit a promising plot, it failed to hold my interest. I wish the story would focus more on the mystery solving element rather than romance element.


***I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed in this review are my own and was not influenced by the author, publisher or any third party.***

I really enjoyed reading it. Victorian era with Charles Dickens is amazing. I recommend this book who loves historical mystery.

A great read that held the tone of the Victorian period well. I was impressed with Redmond's writing style and will be adding her to my must-read list!

A Victorian whodunnit with a twist. As a huge fan of Charles Dickens’ (despite the marital scandals throughout his marriage to Catherine Hogarth after ten children together), I thoroughly enjoyed A Tale of Two Murders by Heather Redmond. The reader is introduced to a young Charles Dickens, a budding journalist just beginning his writing career in 1835. The story begins with Charles enjoying an Epiphany dinner at the home of his editor, George Hogarth and his family, when a terrible scream from a neighboring house pierces the night. Charles and his editor’s daughter, Miss Hogarth (Kate), rush next door to see what the commotion is, only to find Lady Lugoson’s daughter, Christiana, violently ill while dining with family and friends for the holiday as well. Charles and Miss Hogarth help carry the girl upstairs and remain with her throughout the night. Unfortunately, Christina fails to recover and dies the next morning. Charles and the Hogarth’s are rocked to the core, pondering how the teen girl could become so ill to the point of dying, when no one else at the party became ill.

After confiding in his colleague the following day, William Aga remembers a similar death of Marie Rueff, another young teen girl from the same neighborhood as the Hogarth’s and Lugoson’s, who died in similar manner during Epiphany exactly a year before. This revelation launches Charles and Miss Hogarth on a journey to find out what happened to these two girls. Redmond captures the essence of Victorian storytelling with ease and breathes life into the characters, embodying the language and style of Dickens’ himself. The relationship between Dickens’ and Miss Hogarth grows slowly as they uncover the connection and mystery behind the Epiphany deaths together.

If you love Dickens and historical fiction tied up in a murder mystery, then pick this book up this summer on July 31, 2018. #AtaleOfTwoMurders #NetGalley #KensingtonBooks

Highly entertaining story in a wonderful setting. Charles and Kate make a great team. Excellent writing.

I really enjoyed Redmond's version of Charles Dickens. I thought the little touches in this book were genius when it came to transporting me back in time. Charles is always hoping for food--he's a bachelor who doesn't make a lot of money and he's in his 20s, so I ended up rooting for him whenever he'd pay a call--will he get tea and biscuits? Will the tea be watery? Will the bread be stale?

There is a sweet romance that develops at a believable pace between Charles and Kate, his future wife. The mystery is compelling and I had no idea "whodunnit," so this should please more seasoned detective novel fans.

Great voice in this book and the pacing really took me back in time. What a relief to pursue an investigation without phones, computers, and all the "conveniences" of modern life!

I am looking forward to more in this series.

I love that Charles Dickens was the detective in this murder mystery. It was a good read and kept me turning page after page.