1835 and Charles Dickens has moved to Selwood Terrace to be near fiancé Kate Hogarth for the summer months. One morning an old article is pushed under his door detailing the murder of a female mudlark by her friends some 50 years previously. Meanwhile having not seen his upstairs neighbour, Miss Haverstock, an elderly spinster for some days he decides to call on her. Unfortunately he finds her dead, and soon the local blacksmith, Daniel Jones, is arrested. Dickens is determined he is innocent and investigates with the help of his friends.
A very enjoyable book in this well-written series with its interesting and likeable characters.

An excellent historical mystery featuring Charles Dickens.
It's well written, well researched and full of humour. I found it engrossing and entertaining.
The mystery was good and kept me guessing.
I look forward to reading the next instalment in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is a fun second installment in a clever series assuming that Charles dickens gets his story inspiration from investigating murders. Likable characters and tie ins to dickens classics.

A nineteenth century romance, an impoverished writer and a dastardly murder to solve. This book was a solid read, with some great mystery to it. Special thanks to Kensington Books and Heather Redmond for giving me an advanced review copy of this book

Grave Expectations by Heather Redmond is the second book of her series starring Charles Dickens as the intrepid reporter. Her first book starring Dickens, A Tale of Two Murders has been well received and although I haven’t read it myself the positive reviews of her writing encouraged me to request Grave Expectations for review.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
If you haven’t picked up based on the title of this book, Grave Expectations draws on the book Great Expectations and the life of the author Charles Dickens.

Set in June 1835 Grave Expectations follows writer Charles Dickens as he strives to make a name for himself in the writing world. With his upcoming wedding to plan with financé Kate Hogarth the writer certainly has enough on his plate.

Then Charles finds his spinster neighbour, Mrs Haverstock murdered in the rooms above, dressed in what seems to be a wedding gown, he finds himself determined to find the killer. The police have a suspect in custody, but Kate and Charles must work together to unravel the mystery, and hopefully save an innocent man in the process.


WHAT DID I LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
This book was quite fun. Rutherford is clearly well versed in her understanding of the real life Charles Dickens and seasons her story well with her research. It’s nice to imagine the real person Charles Dickens living his life. Whilst he may not have played the detective to the same degree as in this story, Rutherford transforms Dickens into a character that brings history to life.

I really enjoyed the character of Charles Dickens. He was generous, clever and brave. He was loyal to his fiancé and their romance was strong throughout the book. The character development throughout the novel was well done. The development of secondary characters such as the neighbours of Charles and his family were really well done.

The actual mystery element of the story in Grave Expectations was intriguing. I wanted to know what happened to Mrs Haverstock and why she was dressed in a wedding gown when she was killed. I was satisfied with the ending of the book, and the explanation provided.

There was a really bittersweet moment with all the characters as they discover something very central to the character of Mrs Haverstock at the end of the book. It’s just personal preference but I like books not to have endings that are too emotionally tidy. I remember the emotional endings more than the happily ever afters. This book achieved this emotional moment through that scene. What type of ending sticks in your mind when you finish a book?

WHAT I LIKED LEAST ABOUT THIS BOOK?
I’m in two minds as to whether I like that this book is about Charles Dickens. On one hand it’s fun to read, but on the other Charles Dickens was a real person. It’s one part of fiction writing that I find somewhat troubling. The taking a real person from history and turning them into a character. Particularly when real facts about their life are sprinkled throughout.

I think when approaching books such as Grave Expectation we need to take it with a grain of salt. It’s not intended to be a biography and shouldn’t be read as such. So long as I just pretended this character was entirely new, it was fine.

I do find it interesting to think that if enough time has passed between an authors death, or a books publication, they become inspiration for new stories. We see this with stories such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It makes me wonder what the future of the Harry Potter series will be. In generations to come, perhaps the now fan-fictions of the internet will take on a life and vitality of their own and be published in main stream literature.

That’s just something I pondered and struggled with as I read this book. Dickens also reminded me of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps because of the setting and the detective nature of this book.

RECOMMENDATION?
If you like historical fiction and mystery novels Grave Expectations is worth a read. The take Charles Dickens was fresh and enjoyable. While this book was a pretty long read it’s fairly fast paced. If you don’t really like fiction that openly references another work of literature, probably don’t read.

I haven’t read Great Expectations yet, even though I’ve had a copy for years. The size of the book has intimidated me somewhat, but after reading this book I’m keen to read it and see how closely Grave Expectations interacts with it. Rutherford has put together a discussion guide at the back of the book. I think it’s great when an author does this! What do you think?

"Grave Expectations" is a mystery set in 1835 in England. It's the second in a series. You don't need to read the first book to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the mystery from the first book. The author tried to stay true to what is known about Charles Dickens' career and lifestyle in his early twenties.

Vivid historical and setting details were woven into the story, making it feel like these events could really have happened. The main characters were interesting and acted realistically. I cared about what happened to them. Charles and his friends asked questions and looked into events in the past that seem linked to the present. His main goal was to prove that an innocent friend was wrongly arrested (which would also save that family from financial ruin). The only way to do this was to find an escaped convict and to prove whodunit. While you could increasingly guess who was involved from the gathering clues, the mystery was so complex that the exact details weren't guessable until the confession.

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

Charles Dickens and Kate Hogarth are back! They're engaged now (woo hoo) and they're still working together. This time, they find themselves investigating the death of Miss Haverstock, an elderly woman who lives upstairs. She's not a sweetheart, that's to be sure, but the murder is sorta odd. She's been dressed and the scene staged. Ned Blood has been arrested for the crime but his wife convinces Kate he didn't do it. Of course, there's more to the story that it first appears. This is in some ways a Victorian cozy featuring real people. It's well thought out and I liked seeing Dickens brought to life. It's also an improvement from the first novel (don't worry if you didn't read it- this is fine as a standalone)- it's more polished . Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. You'll enjoy this if you are looking for a light historical mystery.

19th-century, murder-investigation, historical-fiction, historical-figures, London

Excellent character development and representation of the prevailing attitudes of the time. There is some tweaking of the characters from Great Expectations as well as some rather graphic details of some observations. The publisher's blurb is pretty good and works as a hook to pique the reader's interest. The mystery writing kept my nose in the book too late into the night.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

For many, Charles Dickens is known for writing the iconic holiday tale "A Christmas Carol" period. Older readers may remember studying one of his classics in English Literature class. as he is considered one of the foremost authors of the 19th Century. I find 19th Century literature cumbersome, but Redmond had me at the title's pun, Grave expectations.
Redmond gifts of deep research and the development of a plausible plot, made it very acceptable for Dickens to be a solver of mysteries.

It is 1835, Charles and Catherine (Kate) Hogarth are engaged. Despite the class differences, they are sweet young romantic partners. Dickens longs to become someone of importance, Kate longs to fulfill her role as a helpmate and wife to a man modern enough to willingly listen to her point of view. Charles has moved to Holborn, home to low cost housing and also on the road to Tyburn Prison. Dickens moved to be closer to Kate, and her family.

He finds himself at the mercy of a penurious landlord. One who is without compassion and one who hires thugs to assist in rent collection. Redmond's style mirrors that of Dickens, especially in the descriptions of hardships of life among the destitute.

Great Expectations has a marvelous character, Miss Haversham. In Grave Expectations we have Miss Haverstock who Dickens considers dotty but interesting. At this point in time, the real Dickens worked as a journalist as he does in book 2. His journalistic curiosity combined with a hearty commitment for justice provide the means for Dickens to be an investigator. Early in the book Dickens and Kate discover Miss Haverstock''s corpse. Redmond relates a grizzly part of 19th century crime detection. The corpse must remain in situ until a Coroner examines the remains. Redmond;s factual prose had me wrinkling my nose reading this passage. Indeed Redmond, unlike a writer of less talent, describes the settings using all 5 senses in her descriptions. I was left feeling I could almost breath the fetid air of the Thames, and join the mudlarks in their struggles.

The wrong man was arrested; Dicken's choses to intervene. Will he and Kate find the actual perpetrator? What of the 'mudlarks, some of London's most pitiful beings. Will Dickens continue to help them? Will Dicken's plans for a December wedding be derailed again? Redmond's novels invite re reading. First read for the plot, second reading to allow a virtual time travel to a challenging era.

Recommended

Full disclosure: I received this e-copy from Kensington Press and netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Thank you for the opportunity.

3,5 stars round up to 4

It's funny, I'm not a Dickens fan regarding his real books but this light mystery is fine by me :)
This is the second book in the series and reminds me of two other series, Lady Sherlock by Sherry Thomas and Veronica Speedwell by Deanna Raybourn. They are all in the same genre for me, a little bit of a cozy mystery and some good characters you can root for.

I would like to start off by thanking NetGalley and Kensington Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book to review.

Second, I would like to admit that I have not *yet* read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. But it’s on my 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime challenge!

This book tells the story of Charles Dickens and his fiancee, Kate Hogarth, after their discovery of the body of Charles’ upstairs neighbor, Miss Haverbrooks. She was brutally murdered in her apartment and had been there for days before her body was found. Throughout the story, we meet Charles’ family, Kate’s family, and several friends who all help in piecing together what happened that fateful night.

In this story, Charles Dickens is a reporter, rather than the renowned author he actually became in his real life. Redmond cleverly alluded to this in the book once, when someone told Dickens he had interesting ideas and asked if he had ever thought of turning them into a book. Dickens responded by snorting and asking, “Who would want to read a book by me?”. There were other references to Dickens’ real life and his books; for example, Dr. Manette from A Tale of Two Cities is a character in this book as well.

I really enjoyed the book. Even though it’s technically a mystery/thriller, and don’t get me wrong – I was on the edge of my seat often, it is also a lighthearted, fun read. There is a little bit of humor mixed in with the mystery, along with great characters. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who the murderer was throughout the book and was very surprised at the reveal. Although the book had a bit of a slow start, by the time everything began unravelling, I was drawn in and just had to know the answers.

It was really interesting reading how murders and bodies were treated in London during the pre-Victorian era. It was nothing like it is today! Bodies would sit in the place they were found, sometimes for days, before the inquest would take place. Jurors would actually go to the crime scene and look at it themselves to determine the manner of death. Can you imagine if they did that today? Things were so different back then. There is also the theme of women being “property” or something to be won as well as homophobia and Christianity vs. Judaism, which are difficult to read but one has to remember that times have changed and that was the normal attitude to have back then.

I really want to go back and read some of Dickens’ work now. I’ve read A Tale of Two Cities and liked it a lot. I’ll have to pick up some others. What are your favorite novels by Charles Dickens?

Heather Redmond wrote a book prior to this one called A Tale of Two Murders and these books are part of a series called A Dickens of a Crime.

Grave Expectations will be available for purchase on July 30, 2019. If you are a fan of historical fiction or mystery/thriller, this is an enjoyable combination of the two. I absolutely recommend this book.

Score: 3,5 Stars

Never did I think that one day I would read a book about Charles Dickens being an amateur detective... But the concept actually works? The murder mystery has the same kind of "cozy" atmosphere as Midsomer Murders, which I really enjoyed.
Overall the mystery part of the story is really nicely put together, a lot of the time the clues are there but it takes a few more puzzle pieces in order to start getting the puzzle together. It's nice when a story don't hand you the important things gift wrapped to a reader and instead the reader has these "Ah" moments when something from earlier suddenly makes so much sense and all the suddenly play a role of importance to solving the mystery (or in this case murder mystery). Though the book couldn't keep this up all the time as there was moments where the clue was really obvious. I also felt there was a little more filler than I would have liked, I prefer everything to of importance and very tightly knit together.

I never knew I needed Charles Dickens as a amateur detective, the author did a really good job of making a likable and realistic character. A character the reader want to cheer on for. I also loved the idea of Dickens stories being influenced of these mysteries. It made the book nerd inside me happy, being able to sit there and thinking "Wait, I recognize that character!". Charles younger brother Fred was also a great character as well as William (though to me he only started standing out near the end), but I felt that Kate and her sister Mary was pretty pale. Might be because they're women in a pre-Victorian society but I wished at least Kate got some more personality and color, as I had hoped it would be of a Charles & Kate crime solving duo kind of story.

So overall it was a really enjoyable experience. I also has to note that the book works really well as a stand alone story. I didn't know going in that it was the second installment in the series, and it wasn't a problem at all coming in a new reading with no prior experience of the series. All the important things from the first novels, the relationships etc., are nicely woven into the story so it didn't feel like exposition or an info dump.
I'm excited to read more in this series, and I will have to pick up the first book sometime. Because I need more Detective Dickens in my life.

Like the idea of Charles dickens as a sleuth. Sometimes the book tries a little hard to be sweet and proper like a historical British story. But overall a good entertaining read.

I found it hard to get into this book at first. I didn't care much for the writing style at first but once I got used to it, it was okay. I was expecting more guess. I think others may enjoy it more than I did.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

A delightful period read with Charles Dickens as the lead character. The people were real; struggling to make a go at life. Charles and his fiancé Kate investigate the murder of an elderly and unusual neighbor. Very enjoyable and kept me guessing until the end.

Grave Expectations is one of those niche titles, the niche this time being "Mystery Novels with Famous Authors as Protagonists." The author is Charles Dickens, who has some help from Wilkie Collins. The mystery isn't all that complex, I had it figured out about halfway through. What's interesting is the way the author explored the rigidity of class in Dickens' London. There are those who do good deeds. There are those who are recipients of the good deeds. And the good deeds generally come with all sorts of strings attached. The victims in this mystery are housemaids whose case would not have been investigated if Dickens hadn't chosen to take on the case. I would call this light entertainment reading—but with a slant that will give you something to think about after.

This is the second book of a series. Charles Dickens as a detective and not a writer? This is pretty much the basis of this book. It was a fun and interesting read.

WHAT IF CHARLES DICKENS GOT HIS INSPIRATION FROM BEING AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE?

Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐️

Well, the idea certainly is original. And entertaining. It's light, despite its dark subject matter (the murder of an elderly lady). And it's filled with likable characters. Still, rating this was difficult and I went back and forth between 3 and 4 ⭐️ a bunch of times...

Full disclosure! I did not know that this was the second in a series when I started this book, but I won't let that influence my opinion. Besides, it actually works quite well as a stand-alone, just FYI.

"That is what fascinates me. Londoners. I am sure you can't find such a vast array of personalities anywhere else."
- Charles Dickens (fictional quote from the book)

WHAT I LIKED

Charles Dickens: The Charles Dickens character was without a doubt my favourite in this book (though I also really liked his younger brother Fred and eccentric neighbour Breese). I loved his sense of honour and his charitable and romantic sensibilities.

Alternative history: While pretty much the entire story is fiction and none of this ever did happen to Charles Dickens, I still thought it was a interesting and original idea, that Dickens was inspired to write his books based on real adventures and mysteries from his own life. So yeah, as a historian I should object, but as a reader I am entertained.

<b>WHAT I DISLIKED</b>

One for all: "One for all and all for one" is most closely associated with the Alexandre Dumas novel The Three Musketeers which was released in 1844. This story takes place in 1835, yet Breese still uses this phrase. And yes, I know there is a possibility that the phrase was known before Dumas immortalized it, but since it is so closely associated with the musketeers it felt really wrong and out of place in a story that takes place 9 years before it publication.

'Mystery': While the mystery was often surprising and interesting, there were some major parts that were glaringly obvious and not at all mysterious. That sort of killed the mystery part for me...

As a fan of Charles Dickens' work, I am clearly drawn towards books that are based on his life and/or works. In this case, rightly so.

'Grave Expectations' is basically a nice whodunnit, with the details worked out into perfection. I was surprised about the culprit in the end, and suspected/mistrusted someone else who clearly did have nothing to do with the murder of miss Haverstock.

Another thing I liked about this book, is all those small details that made clear that Heather Redmond is a Dickens' fan herself, and must have read quite some of his books. She interwove many things out of his books into this one, without it being obvious.

'Grave Expectations' is a great book to read for many people, and I believe it to be even more so for us Dickens' fans.

Grave Expectations is a excellent historical mystery. Great writing and well developed characters. This is the second in the series.

Grave Expectations by Heather Redmond is the second installment in the A Dickens of a Crime series.

This is a fantastic Victorian era murder/mystery involving the a fictionalization of the real life Charles Dickens.
I love the detail and the intricacies of the character niches that were developed in this novel. I love the interplay and the chemistry that the characters evoked. The author has a talent in creating rich, multi-layered characters with quick wit and banter.

The author did a fabulous job creating a nail-biting, thought-provoking, intricate plot involving the murder/mystery that kept me engaged throughout.

If you love historical fiction, murder/mysteries, or just a good old mystery, then this book is for you.

I look forward to future installments.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.