Death by Dickens

As if Anne Perry isn't creative enough as a novelist, she apparently enjoys editing anthologies, and readers are better off for it. Her latest collection, in which she modestly contributes one of the stories, "Death by Dickens" is a delightful read, especially for Dickens fans (or any ninth grader who's suffered through "Great Expectations"!). It's not so esoteric, however, that even if there's a reader who's not familiar with Charles Dickens, the stories, eleven in all, are noteworthy and readworthy. Dickens' writings often were characterized by heavy socially significant themes ("Oliver Twist," "A Christmas Carol," and many others) and the authors of these stories don't forget that aspect of Dickens. Murder becomes the significant theme (what else-it's edited by Anne Perry!) and each of these writers have skillfully incorporated Dickens' own characters and settings into their own plot developments. A favorite, and written by Perry herself, is "A Tale of One City" (in which she uses Sydney Carton to "save the day," as it were). Bill Crider's "Mr. Pickwick vs. the Body Snatchers" is probably the best, although Peter Tremayne's "The Passing Shadow" (in which he teams up Willie Collins and Charles Dickens to investigate-and solve-a particularly grisly murder, is also superb. But the others are just as worth reading. Short stories are generally not what I read, but sometimes a collection comes along that's worth reading-and Ms Perry's done it again. ([email protected])

Anne Perry is at the top of her game as a mystery novelist-and her true genius shows as editor of this creative endeavor! Quite clever to expand on the Dickens Classics-each writer who contributes shines-and it allows readers to sample the cream of the crop. Great read, makes a wonderful gift for the classics collector, and mystery lover!

Death by Dickens is a worthy companion to Anne Perry's previous anthology Much Ado About Murder. In this case the stories are based on the novels of Charles Dickens. Two of the stories are based on A Christmas Carol, including my favorite, A Stake of Holly, in which a dying Scrooge, 19 years after the events of the novel, charges Tim Cratchitt to discover the earthly identities of the three Ghosts. As he investigates, he uncovers a diabolical murder. Two are based on A Tale of Two Cities. In Death in Dover the crime is solved by a well-known character from another novel. Sidney Carton is the detective in Anne Perry's story A Tale of One City, in which Marat & Robespierre play roles. There are two Great Expectations Tales, two from the Pickwick Papers, one modern-day story revolving around an Oliver Twist manuscript, and two in which Dickens himself is the detective, once with his friend and fellow author Wilkie Collins and the other with his son-in-law (and Wilkie's brother) Charles Collins. You don't have to know Dickens to enjoy these stories, which are to be read, re-read, and savored.