As her mother begins to relate the details of the crime, Beth is so intrigued that she wonders if she could solve the crime so many years later. Unbeknownst to Beth, recent events have led the murderer to believe the crime may be discovered, so the murderer is not pleased when Beth starts to show interest in the lives of the principal players in the drama.

The story of the long ago murder at the University of Chicago struck me as unusual. One would not expect to find such dastardly doings occurring in such an august institution. Obviously, the fact that the criminal goes undetected for more than a generation speaks well for the murderer's intellect, but one wonders what would lead such an obviously bright individual to commit such a horrible crime.

It was intriguing to find out why the deed was done, although I thought the killer's motivation was a bit contrived. I was also somewhat skeptical that the murderer would be able to gain access to the murder weapon in the manner suggested. However, the description of college life in that era was quite entertaining and plausible, though I didn't realize college students then wore essentially the same things they do today – jeans and T-shirts.

The cast of characters is large and, as a result, none of them are developed in depth, though each of them has enough distinctive characteristics that the reader is able to keep them straight without having to make a list. It is also quite believable that the group of girls developed as it did because the mixture of personalities complemented each other. Thus, it was no surprise that the group broke apart when some members were missing.

The Charles Dickens Murders does have a plot device that I found difficult to follow. Toward the end of the book, the heroine imagines herself living the life of the Chicago students in the 1940's. She sees them and interacts with them in situations that had been related to her by her mother. This did not appear to be occurring merely in the heroine's mind as she spoke to them; and they answered her as if she were a fellow student. I suppose the author wanted to put the heroine in a place where she would have access to information she couldn't have otherwise, but I found these parts of the book confusing and awkward.

There is a good bit of information in the book about the history of the University of Chicago. The description of Dallworthy Hall and its origins were most amusing. I am sure present day students at Chicago would enjoy comparing the campus as it is today with the description in the book, as well as the description of student life at the University in the 1940's.

Readers may be intrigued by the parallel between the murder at the University of Chicago and the works of Charles Dickens – Bleak House in particular. But for someone like me who is not a Dickens scholar, and has not read Bleak House, the relationship was difficult to see and this aspect of the book didn't make much sense.

--Andy Plonka