Mystery of Edwin Drood

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is Charles Dickens' brilliant contribution to the field of crime and detection. In fact, the novel is even more of a mystery than Dickens himself intended, for he died before completing it, making it a favorite of literary detectives. Against a background of opium dens, nocturnal graveyard visits, and moldering monastic crypts, Dickens weaves a tightly knit plot centered on the ominous disappearance of young Edwin Drood. Suspected of foul murder are John Jasper, a drug-addicted choir-master who hungers after Drood's fiancee, and Neville Landless, a Ceylonese who had previously quarreled violently with the missing man. With dark, brooding atmosphere and masterful characterization, Dickens is at the height of his powers in this final work.