The Last Dickens

A Novel

By: Matthew Pearl

Narrated by: Paul Michael

In his most enthralling novel yet, the critically acclaimed author Matthew Pearl reopens one of literary history’s greatest mysteries. The Last Dickens is a tale filled with the dazzling twists and turns, the unerring period details, and the meticulous research that thrilled readers of the bestsellers The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow.

Boston, 1870. When news of Charles Dickens’s untimely death reaches the office of his struggling American publisher, Fields & Osgood, partner James Osgood sends his trusted clerk Daniel Sand to await the arrival of Dickens’s unfinished novel. But when Daniel’s body is discovered by the docks and the manuscript is nowhere to be found, Osgood must embark on a transatlantic quest to unearth the novel that he hopes will save his venerable business and reveal Daniel’s killer.

Danger and intrigue abound on the journey to England, for which Osgood has chosen Rebecca Sand, Daniel’s older sister, to assist him. As they attempt to uncover Dickens’s final mystery, Osgood and Rebecca find themselves racing the clock through a dangerous web of literary lions and drug dealers, sadistic thugs and blue bloods, and competing members of Dickens’s inner circle. They soon realize that understanding Dickens’s lost ending is a matter of life and death, and the hidden key to stopping a murderous mastermind.©2009 Matthew Pearl; (P)2009 Random House, Inc

Critic reviews

"A rousing yarn of opium, book pirating, murder most foul, man-on-man biting and other shenanigans—and that's just for starters.[The Last Dickens is] a pleasing whodunit that resolves nicely, bookending Dan Simmons's novel Drood (2009) as an imaginative exercise in what might be called alternative literary history.—Kirkus

"Just what do the seemingly disparate parts of the story have to do with one another? What the publisher becomes embroiled in, in London, is far more complicated than simply manuscript detection. A whole world of life-and-death nefariousness awaits both him and the reader, who will be well rewarded."—Booklist


“Well executed and tightly controlled…extremely clever.”—Los Angeles Times

“Pearl’s plot is ambitious and satisfying, involving a murder and a missing manuscript, the opium trade, the emerging publishing business In New York and Boston, and the predicament of single, divorced women in America in the 19th century. Fans of Dickens will appreciate Pearl’s literary allusions and his thoroughly researched characterizations…”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Strongly recommended… Pearl enriches his story through an in-depth knowledge of Dickens’s career and literary works.”—Library Journal

What A Gem!

I am 3/4 of the way through this book & am completely enjoying it. I was surprised to see that there weren't any current ratings. If you are considering this book, don't hesitate. It's chock full of all kinds of things. Historical fiction adventure mystery, skullduggery, the Opium Wars commentary on colonialism and even some timid Victorian romance. But wait there's more! Most of all it's a story about the first American Popstar, the great Dickens. I am already planning to get "Great Expectations" as my next listen. I can't give this 5 stars as I've not yet read the ending but it definitely has 5 star potential.
If you're interested in taking a step back in time and get a little personal with one of the greatest writers that ever lived get this book!

A great Dickens mistery

It is not only a great mystery convencing to the point that the reader might wonder if this was a "true story" about Dickens demise and his last unfinished novel if not for the fantasy elements. It clearly depicts Dickens and the literary world in America during those years, where writers and choices were limited and anything was fair in the publishing houses. In not a delicate way it touches on the opium trade and the role of the British Army forcing India to grow opium to finance England’s trade with China who in turn were forced to accept opium as payment. So in reality the British Army were ordered to be little more than thugs and drug runners thus demonstrating the abuse of power exerted by empires and rulers who fed in the blood and misery of many to fund their armies and the lavish life styles of the rulers and the rich

The Last Dickens

I enjoyed the book but not nearly as much as The Dante Club. I learned quite a bit about India, the opium trade, publishing, Dickens' tours in the US. But some of the dialogue was just silly.

Neither good mystery or history

The Last Dickens is a poorly structured book. I'm not sure if the author let the facts get in the way of a good story, or simply was unable to come up with an engaging story line to fit the events he was trying to portray. The book feels clumsy, overly-long, and uninteresting. It's written in neither a modern tone, nor a tone worthy of a Dickens' piece, but rather some uninteresting hybrid of the two.

The reader, too, fails to bring any excitement to the story. His accents are very good, but his style is very, very deadpan, which doesn't lend itself to an already deadpan book.

not for me

Other than gaining some historical info on the life and times of Mr Dickens I didn't enjoy this book. The plot jumped beteween 2 time periods and the characteres were not strongly drawn. I did enjoy learning about Dickens "rock star" fame in the US