While I did enjoy this series , I'm not going to be going on with at this time , maybe at a later date but not right now.

Summons to Murder is the 9th Charles Dickens investigation by J.C. Briggs. Released 22nd Dec 2021 by Sapere Books, it's 386 pages (print edition) and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and the rest of the series) is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is a engagingly well written and plotted historical mystery series with three dimensional characters and a commendable Dickens vibe in the situations, settings, and characterizations. I've enjoyed these historical mysteries set in the middle of the 19th century in London and environs. Fictional sleuth Dickens is clever, loyal, dogged, and practical and his friendship and cooperative investigation with superintendent Sam Jones makes for engaging and entertaining reading. The plots are always convoluted and well engineered, full of twists and surprises. The story itself is written around a framework of real historical events and people and so well entwined that it's not always apparent where reality shades over into fiction. Each of the mysteries works well as a standalone with a self contained mystery, plotline, denouement, and resolution.

Four stars.

Overall, it's a good read and a quality example of the historical-person-as-amateur-sleuth sub-genre. With 9 books extant in the series, and a 10th due out in 4th quarter 2022, it'll be a good choice for a long weekend's binge.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

There have been a few of these type of novels out recently. I’ve read the Jane Austen investigates ones, and there are ones about the bronte sisters, now it’s Charles Dickens. As a huge Dickens fan I deffo thought this would be a unique read and I was not disappointed.

Absolutely love this series of Victorian mysteries. Great characters, mainly Superintendent Jones, Charles and of course Scrap, but the lesser players too are so well written, you feel you almost know them. Well written, they bring Charles Dickens and Victorian London to life. I really hope there are a lot more of these books planned. They are a really good length, full of twists and turns, something to really enjoy on cold wet evenings. Or even in the garden on a summer day. Very entertaining. Hope there's a new one out very soon

Another terrific CD murder investigation set in London around 1851 and where our beloved wordsmith Charles Dickens and his faithful friend and partner Superintendent Sam Jones must try to untangle and resolve a dark and captivating mystery that involves drowning, debts, fraud imposture, forgery, bigamy, bastardry, poison, madness, murder and many aliases....

A very entertaining whodunit full of colorful characters, sparkling dialogues and marvellous historical details that kept me on the edge of my seat for a few hours.

An accomplished addition to a marvellous series!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sapere Books for this delightful ARC

I haven't read the other books in this series. But I have to now! This was so well done. I really enjoyed the writing of the characters and how it made me feel like I actually knew them. The descriptions of the places also make you feel like you are there seeing and experiencing everything! This is a very well-written historical mystery. I think people would really enjoy it if they gave it a chance. Now I'm scurring off to read the others!

I am glad that I am ending my year with a book by J C Briggs. I've not always been successful in getting the
books but am very appreciative to Sapere Books for sending this on to me.

1851 London - Detective Sam Jones and Charles Dickens are good friends. They also know a kind of fatalistic
feeling that they are working against great odds. Especially when one of the aristocracy is involved.
London is not kind to the poor and helpless, the system of law and justice is weighted heavily in favour of
the rich, the famous and the powerful.

Depicting London at its worst one could be forgiven for thinking that this is not part of the developed world
even in 1851 - the primitive way of living, the squalor and dirt and illness found in the slums of London cheek
by jowl to the houses of the rich and famous was in itself upsetting to read about. The callousness and indifference
of those who had it all to those who worked for them and came from the lower economic and social classes was
immense and hard to even read about.

Here the two men have to find a murderer of a friend of theirs. Pierce Mallory was found with a gunshot wound
to his head, deemed as a suicide but Dickens knows that this is not the case. Uncovering a story of bigamy, murder,
cruelty (forcible incarceration of a wife in an asylum) and using his wits and cleverness to acquire more and
more wealth our suspect is a legal luminary much respected and feared by his peers and a member of the aristocracy
to boot. Getting him acquitted is not going to be an easy task.

The story is both of the historical and mystery murder genre and covers both in great detail. The plot is complicated
the suspects and victims are many but the story weaves a good tale to keep the reader engrossed.

A Charles Dickens mystery, This is the first book I have read by JC Briggs, and I found it very addictive , a little slow at times, but but overall and well written with many twist and turns and scandals of the times.
It follows the death of several, the chasing of Many clues and the final exposure, with a satisfying ending. .A book that is hard to put down ones started.

‘What’s that? A sound cracks the air.’

London, 1851. Pierce Mallory is found dead in his lodgings. There’s a gunshot wound in his head, and a duelling pistol beside him. The verdict is suicide. But Mallory’s friends, including Charles Dickens, think that Mallory was most unlikely to take his own life: while his personal life was quite scandalous, he was on his way to Constantinople. Dickens approaches his good friend Superintendent Sam Jones from Bow Street. The duelling pistol (one of a pair) is taken to the manufacturer, and it is quickly established that it had not been fired.

Who murdered Pierce Mallory and why? There is no shortage of people who might have wished Mallory dead: he leaves behind several abandoned lovers (some with children) as well as some jealous husbands. The more Dickens and Jones dig, the more scandals they uncover. With the help of the inestimable Scrap, answers are found. But others will lose their lives before this case is solved.

Ms Briggs brings 19th century London to life, with its huge social chasm between rich and poor and the relatively inferior position occupied by most women. There are secrets to be uncovered, past injustices and plenty of intrigue. While investigating, Charles Dickens finds ideas for his own stories while helping to solve crime.

This is the ninth book in this series by Ms Briggs. I have read and enjoyed eight of them (and will search out the one I have missed). While this novel can be read as a standalone, I heartily recommend this well-written mystery series set in Victorian England.

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

Part of a series where Charles Dickens helps investigate murder with Superintendent Sam Jones of Bow Street.
Dickens uses these investigations to write his books. This story has Pierce Mallory a journalist found murdered. The investigation will take in revenge, suicide and scandal. A picture of Victorian times with many characters having secrets leading to death. A story that will keep your interest through to the finally. A clever idea to use a real life character in Dickens who uses crime and Victorian life for ideas for his books.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

1851 London. Friend of Dickens, Pierce Mallory, has been found shot. The initial verdict was suicide but on further investigation murder is proven. As his lifestyle provides many suspects will it be possible for Superintendent Jones and Charles Dickens to find the guilty party, and the motive.
A well-plotted and entertaining historical mystery. This well-written story with its cast of varied and likeable characters is another good addition to the series. The book can easily be read as a standalone story.