 Cover of serial No. 2, September 1870 | |
| Author | Charles Dickens |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Samuel Luke Fildes |
| Cover artist | Charles Allston Collins |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel (murder mystery) |
| Published | Serialized and book form 1870 |
| Publisher | Chapman & Hall London |
| Publication place | England |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | Our Mutual Friend |
| Text | The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Wikisource |
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel by English author Charles Dickens,[1][2] originally published in 1870.
Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium addict, who lusts after his pupil, Rosa Bud. Miss Bud, Edwin Drood's fiancée, has also caught the eye of the high-spirited and hot-tempered Neville Landless. Landless and Edwin Drood take an instant dislike to each other. Later Drood disappears under mysterious circumstances. The story is set in Cloisterham, a lightly disguised Rochester.[3]
Upon the death of Dickens on 9 June 1870, the novel was left unfinished in his writing desk,[4] only six of a planned twelve instalments having been written. He left no detailed plan for the remaining instalments or solution to the novel's mystery, and many later adaptations and continuations by other writers have attempted to complete the story.
- ^ Dubberke, Ray. Dickens, Drood, and the Detectives, New York: Vantage Press, 1992. ISBN 0-533-09639-1.
- ^ Kate Dickens Perugini, "Edwin Drood and the Last Days of Charles Dickens", Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 37 (1906).
- ^ Dickens, C.; Walters, J. C. (1913). The Complete Mystery of Edwin Drood. Estes. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-343-59769-6. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Exeter Flying Post – Wednesday 22 June 1870