Harrow-on-the-Hill, March 1836: In a sense, orphans Ollie, John, and Arthur have always been treasure hunters. The mudlarks have gone from a hardscrabble life scavenging the banks of the Thames for bits and bobs to becoming students at a boarding school outside of London, thanks to the kind and generous intercession of Charles Dickens. But now they’re missing—as is, apparently, a treasure map.
When Charles arrives at the school, he’s hit with another twist—the servant girl who was allegedly in possession of the map has been strangled in the icehouse. Unbeknownst to them on their spirited adventure, his young friends may be in mortal danger. Now Charles and his fiancée Kate Hogarth, who has come to join him in the search for the runaways, must artfully dodge false leads and red herrings to find the boys and the map—before X marks the spot of their graves. (Goodreads synopsis)
I have read the previous novels in Heather Redmond’s Charles Dickens series prior to this one except book 4, The Pickwick Murders.
I honestly thought that Kate Hogarth and Charles would have been married by now, but that is one very small detail that I was not fond of. The only other one was that Charles was not the detective in this novel. The detective was actually Kate and Julie Aga.
I enjoyed being introduced to William Aga’s family. They were different from William in many ways, but I also understand why he was such a good match for Julie. I also can’t wait to see William and Julie as parents. William and Charles had already done so well with the mudlarks, I can only imagine what they will be like with their own.
I thought the parallels with the cholera pandemic and our current COVID one was interesting and relatable. The conditions of the those in poverty as well as society’s views may have slight changes but not many, and I am very glad for the newer more progressive acceptability for women. I thought Julie and Kate pushing those boundaries was very well written. However, Kate’s constant second guessing as well as her attacks on Julie’s “outlandish” behavior still made her an unbearable character for me.
Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
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