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Grave Expectations
Grave Expectations
Grave Expectations
Audiobook7 hours

Grave Expectations

Written by Heather Redmond

Narrated by Tim Campbell

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

London, June 1835: In the interest of being a good neighbor, Charles checks in on Miss Haverstock, the elderly spinster who resides in the flat above his. But as the young journalist and his fiancee Kate ascend the stairs, they are assaulted by the unmistakable smell of death. Upon entering the woman's quarters, they find her decomposing corpse propped up, adorned in a faded gown that looks like it could have been her wedding dress, had she been married. A murderer has set the stage. But to what purpose?

As news of an escaped convict from Coldbath Fields reaches the couple, Charles reasonably expects the prisoner, Ned Blood, may be responsible. But Kate suspects more personal motives, given the time and effort in dressing the victim. When a local blacksmith is found with cut manacles in his shop and arrested, his distraught wife begs Charles and Kate to help. At the inquest, they are surprised to meet Miss Haverstock's cold and haughty foster daughter, shadowed by her miserably besotted companion. Secrets shrouded by the old woman's past may hold the answers to this web of mystery. But Charles and Kate will have to risk their lives to unveil the truth . . .
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 30, 2019
ISBN9781977332288
Author

Heather Redmond

Though her last known British ancestor departed London in the 1920s, Heather Redmond is a committed anglophile, Dickens devotee, and lover of all things nineteenth century. She has lived in Illinois, California, and Texas, and now resides in a small town in Washington State with her husband and son. For more information please visit www.heatherredmond.com and twitter.com/heatheraredmond.

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Reviews for Grave Expectations

Rating: 3.861111111111111 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the second in the author's series of whodunnits with a young Charles Dickens sleuthing together with his now fiancee Kate Hogarth. A woman is discovered murdered in the flat upstairs from the one Dickens shares with his younger brother Fred. She is dressed in an old fashioned wedding dress. The sleuthing in this one goes back 50 years to a gruesome story Charles reads in an old journal slipped under his front door by an unknown person. While I quite enjoyed this, some of the logic leaps and assumptions seem a bit strained. The connections to Great Expectations are more substantial than those to Tale of Two Cities in the first book in this series; not only the wedding dress, but also convicts and blacksmiths. There is a good sense of Dickens struggling to make ends meet at this time of life, having to work on his sketches of city life that will later be collected as Sketches by Boz, and on songs, in order to stay afloat, pay his rent to his unscrupulous landlord, and support his feckless father, while also trying to help people in distress, such as the blacksmith he believes to have been wrongly arrested for the murder of his upstairs neighbour, and the mudlarks. As in the first book, there are various knowing references such as when Dickens snorts "Who would want to read a book by me?". I am highly irritated when Americanisms such as "me either" and "city block" are put into Dickens's mouth, but I know this frequently happens in published works these days. I will pursue this series, though I feel a bit disappointed with the execution.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    1835 and Charles Dickens has moved to Selwood Terrace to be near fiancé Kate Hogarth for the summer months. One morning an old article is pushed under his door detailing the murder of a female mudlark by her friends some 50 years previously. Meanwhile having not seen his upstairs neighbour, Miss Haverstock, an elderly spinster for some days he decides to call on her. Unfortunately he finds her dead, and soon the local blacksmith, Daniel Jones, is arrested. Dickens is determined he is innocent and investigates with the help of his friends.
    A very enjoyable book in this well-written series with its interesting and likeable characters.
    A NetGalley Book
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a charming and most enjoyable historical fiction cozy mystery. This is author Heather Redmond's second installment in the, "A Dickens of a Crime" series. Although this reader had not read the first in series (A Tale of Two Murders), they found the second book stands alone easily and does not rely on the first book's character development to carry it. There were a few references to action which occurred within the previous installment but not enough to derail the progression of the second.The story begins on June 20, 1835. A young Charles Dickens has rented additional quarters in order to be in closer proximity to his betrothed, Kate Hogarth, at least for the summer months. His 15 year old brother, Fred, resides with him as he prepares for eligibility for administrative employment or apprenticeship. Their father tends to be a spendthrift and Charles is often bailing out his family financially. This delays Charles' and Kate's marital plans and causes some consternation and a bit of friction. As the brothers rose on this Saturday morning, they discover that someone has slid a 50 year old article regarding a horrible group of children which had ganged up on a Jewish girl, thrown her in a barrel, and cast her to the waters of the outgoing tide. Perhaps initially done in fun, they, none the less, made no attempt to rescue poor Goldy. So who slid the article under the door? Is there any relationship between it and the subsequent murder of the tenant upstairs? A nearby neighbor is arrested on slim evidence of having killed or aided the killer of the upstairs neighbor. Charles, in turn, is eager to exonerate his new friend and thus the story begins.As to character development, Redmond is spectacular in this area. Our protagonist, young adult Charles Dickens, is experiencing life on his own while caring for his young brother and simultaneously making wedding plans with his betrothed, Kate Hogarth. We see glimpses of future Dickens novels based on the lives of the people Charles encounters throughout this story. We are painfully informed of the social strata of the day and how the haves look upon the have-nots with discomfort and disdain. Charles, on the other hand, is part of a group of folks trying to lift a few orphaned "mudlarks" from their poverty and give them a bit of hope for their futures. Redmond's development of 1835 London is rich in setting. The odors, along seedy streets or by the river's edge filled with sewage, are ripe in the telling. The sounds of horse hooves and bustling street markets are distinctly audible. The hand of fine silk or cotton batiste is richly textural and sumptuous to the touch. Kate's fresh and treasured strawberry jam is tasty down to its last bit. The fog of a smoky room is stifling and diminishes visibility. The reader richly experiences the mise en scène with all their senses. There was one moment in the storytelling which caused this reader to bristle a touch and that was the statement by one character of, "One for all and all for one" with a reference to the Musketeers. Dumas has yet to write the Three Musketeers which is not completed for another nine years. But beyond that, the book is well written and the setting of 1835 London well created. I am grateful to Kensington Publishing Corp. for having provided a free electronic copy of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    19th-century, murder-investigation, historical-fiction, historical-figures, London Excellent character development and representation of the prevailing attitudes of the time. There is some tweaking of the characters from Great Expectations as well as some rather graphic details of some observations. The publisher's blurb is pretty good and works as a hook to pique the reader's interest. The mystery writing kept my nose in the book too late into the night. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!