Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins reveal the darker side of Victorian London—and a killer’s identity—in this “well-crafted adventure” (Publishers Weekly).   Charles Dickens is smitten with Ellen Ternan, a teenage actress, and heads to the country to retrieve her from the home for fallen women run by Angela Burdett-Coutts—who also owns one of England’s largest banks and has recently received an anonymous threatening note.   Back in London, Dickens and his fellow writer Wilkie Collins give the note to Inspector Field. But more urgent worries are to come. Both men’s paramours—the actress as well as a former prostitute—have been attending Women’s Emancipation Society meetings. When a young feminist is found fatally strangled at the scene of a robbery at Coutts Bank, Ellen, whose scarf was the murder weapon, is arrested. And it is up to Dickens to clear her name—hopefully without sullying his own, since at the time of the killing, the two were together in a hotel room . . .   “The story offers not only a mystery but also a look at some of the more prurient aspects of nineteenth-century London society . . . Atmospheric and cunningly plotted . . . Absorbing.” —Booklist

"Atmospheric and cunningly plotted." —BOOKLIST

It was the best of times, it was the worst of crimes in this dizzying Dickensian romp, as the canonical author risks ruining his reputation—and losing his life—all for love and justice.

Someone is threatening Angela Burdett-Coutts, the banker, feminist, and philanthropist, one of the richest, most powerful women in England. Soon after she alerts her friend Charles Dickens to the threats, the Coutts Bank is robbed, and a member of the Women's Emancipation Society is found strangled inside. The murder brings the burgeoning feminist movement under scrutiny. Inspector William Field of the Metropolitan Protectives begins his investigation, aided by the eager amateur detective Dickens and his apprentice Wilkie Collins. Yet Dickens's own reputation and career are threatened by his love for the striking young actress Ellen Ternan. Ellen is a liberated "hoyden" herself, and a prime suspect in the murder. In order to prove Ellen's innocence, the two novelists may have to expose their own secrets.