This is part of a series. I haven't read the prior books, and this one did make sense, so I believe it could work as a standalone novel.

I enjoy Charles Dickens, so that, along with the cover, caught my attention with this story. I liked the gothic angle to the story, which made the mystery more interesting. The writing, overall, was good, but I did have trouble staying engaged at times. Thankfully, that improved as the story unfolded.

I'm not too keen on historical fiction but this series I love. I have read the whole series but they are also good to read as standalone books. The setting is great (1830's Victorian England) ,the mysteries are complex and the characters compelling. A very good read.

Abostly loved this book. Highly recommend it. 5 star book. Might reread it next year. May know a few who might like this book. Totally gonna try and get a physical copy of this because I abostly loved it. Kept me pulled into it.

I admit to being a fan of this series, each installment of which can be read as a standalone. Once you get past the idea that Charles Dickens and Kate Hogarth are ace amateur detectives (go with it) you'll find this is a pretty good mystery that probes at the underbelly of the Victorians. Dickens has sponsored children for school- they've gone missing but what's not missing is the body of a young woman, who is found in an ice house. Did the boys kill her for the treasure map? There's a cholera outbreak, bad guys, and as always, a good relationship between Charles and Kate. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A complex historical mystery.

Book five in the series and the third that I have read.

This series features a fictional Charles Dickens and this book takes place in 1836, just prior to his marriage to Kate Hogarth. As well as reporting and writing instalments of The Pickwick Papers, Dickens fancies himself as an amateur detective and frequently gets involved in investigating various crimes.

In A Twist of Murder the crime is the murder of a young woman whose frozen corpse is found in an icehouse. Events become very involved with missing children, an outbreak of cholera and even a treasure map. It does get a bit too busy at times and I had to work at keeping all the facts in order. There were also too many people called Mr. Aga. I was never quite sure which one we were looking at at any one time.

This was an enjoyable story which just wandered on a little too long. I liked several of the characters, the topic of Cholera was detailed and suitably gross, and all the plot lines were tied up neatly by the end. A good read but not a favourite.

I love the sleuthing bit of Charles Dickens and in this victorian England setting this was a wonderfully
descrptive read.

Coupled with his writing and detective skills, Dickens was such a humane and generous soul. Appalled by
living conditions of the poor, his was a constant struggle to uplift whoever he could. When he discovers
three orphans whom he had registered for a school disappeared and then the murder of a young girl, he is
distraught first at the death of this twelve year old and then the disappearance of the three young boys
and he is hoping that the two events are not linked.

Charles is just weeks away from his marriage and his intended in laws are anyway not very happy with him.
When Kate joins him in his quest to find the boys and solve the murder, Charles knows he has to deal with
this quickly.

This is a very busy story - there is Victorian England at its worst - the attitude towards the poor was
appalling, the poverty was rampant, even parents were hard to fathom, there is a cholera epidemic going on
and the girl was apparently killed because of a treasure map she kept hinting and waving about. Trying to solve
it all made it a very busy story.

Interesting but a lot of strands to follow on.

This is a murder mystery. Eliza has been murdered by her father but nobody knows who done the deed.
Harrow-on-the-Hill, March 1836: In a sense, orphans Ollie, John, and Arthur have always been treasure hunters. The mudlarks have gone from a hardscrabble life scavenging the banks of the Thames for bits and bobs to becoming students at a boarding school outside of London, thanks to the kind and generous intercession of Charles Dickens. But now they’re missing—as is, apparently, a treasure map.
When Charles arrives at the school, he’s hit with another twist—the servant girl who was allegedly in possession of the map has been strangled in the icehouse. Unbeknownst to them on their spirited adventure, his young friends may be in mortal danger. Now Charles and his fiancée Kate Hogarth, who has come to join him in the search for the runaways, must artfully dodge false leads and red herrings to find the boys and the map—before X marks the spot of their graves . . .
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

"A Twist of Murder" is a mystery set in 1836 in England. It's the fifth in a series. You don't need to read the previous book to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the previous mysteries. Vivid historical and setting details were woven into the story, creating a distinct sense of the time and place. The author tried to stay true to what is known about Charles Dickens' career and lifestyle in his early twenties. The main characters were likable and acted realistically.

There really wasn't much of a mystery since much of the focus was on solving the treasure map rather than solving the murder. The mystery wasn't the location of the missing boys (which was soon discovered) but who killed the maid, the cousin of Charles' friend, William. They investigated enough to determine a handful of suspects, then simply waited until whodunit voluntarily confessed. Ironically, someone even told them what was at the end of the treasure map, but they didn't pay any attention (like, question him about it). Much of the story was the treasure hunt and a cholera outbreak (full of gross details), which added suspense.

There was one use of British bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'll probably keep on reading the series because of the vivid, accurate historical details, so I'd recommend this book to fans of historicals.

This entry into the Charles Dickens mystery world was a worthy entry. In the midst of a cholera outbreak, Charles travels with his friend William to his family's boarding school. I wish there was a bit more interaction between Charles and his betrothed Katherine, but they seemed to be on separate tracks through the book. I love seeing glimpses into Charles' writing life as he solves mysteries.

The concept Heather Redmond uses of putting Charles Dickens as a fictional character into the narrative of this book is really creative and is done in a way that feels natural and seamless. As a fan of Dickens myself, the description of this novel really jumped out at me and, although I did not realize it before starting to read that this is part of a series, it works perfectly on its own (although I'm sure aspects of it would be better appreciated if it was read after the others).
While I found the writing of the novel to be very well done, I was not always fully invested in what was going on in the story. After reading the first few chapters I had actually decided I was probably not going to finish, simply because I couldn't stay interested. However, after I gave it another go it certainly did pick up for me. There were still some moments where I would get completely distracted because I was losing interest in the plot but for the most part I really enjoyed it. One thing that I wasn't particularly fond of, however, was the characterization of most of the characters, as I found it hard to become interested or attached to them and that took away from my experience with this book. Most of the characters were fairly uninteresting and that made it hard for me to stick with the story.
Overall I'm glad I went back to finish this book and I think the writing of it is excellent and clean, even if the plot and characters tend to drag sometimes.

Disclaimer: this is the fifth book in the Dickens’ Crime series but you don’t need to read the first four ones to understand this (but you should !!!!)
“Doesn’t it take strong emotions to kill?”
To be completely honest, when I first thought that I found a bit singular the concept of a Charles Dickens investigating. I’m glad I was surprised !!! The great novelist Charles Dickens, while writing his pickwick papers, ready to be married to a beautiful young lady, has to solve a mystery surrounding the family of his dearest friend William Aga … what will happen??
Mysteries, secrets, pain and suffering all together with sometimes a bit of fluffy romance between the two betrotheds.
This book was really good !!!
The gothic atmosphere made the story even more dark and the pain shared by the main characters made the plot even more interesting.
And the honourable mention at the end of the book … chef kiss !!!!
I’m glad I had the chance to read it!!
“But in my experience, truth is usually found much closer to home”

1836. Charles Dickens is urgently called to Harrow-on-the-Hill, in particular to the Aga School, by his good friend William Aga. For it seems William's cousin, Agnes, a maid at the school has disappeared with her treasure map. Also, several days earlier Dickens's three mudlarks had also gone missing from the school. Soon after his arrival Agnes is discovered dead. Dickens and Aga investigate both cases.
For me not really enough of a mystery. But overall an interesting historical novel with its likeable main character.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.