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J.C. Briggs
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Murder By Ghostlight: Death lurks behind the scenes... (Charles Dickens Investigations Book 3) Kindle Edition

by J. C. Briggs (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 563 ratings
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Join Charles Dickens on another crime-solving adventure! Perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Victorian crime mysteries, A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield…

Dickens has gone from private investigator to prime suspect…

London, 1850

Charles Dickens is in Manchester, performing at the Queen’s Theatre with his acting group.

But his career on the stage is cut short when a man is shot dead – on set.

With Dickens himself caught with the gun in his hands, he is immediately arrested.

Along with the help of his good friend Superintendent Sam Jones, Dickens must do all he can to find the real killer, before he is locked up for a crime he didn’t commit.

Can Dickens convince the authorities of his innocence? Will he unmask the true assassin?

Or will there be another Murder by Ghostlight…?

Murder By Ghostlight is the third urban mystery in J. C. Briggs’ literary historical series, the Charles Dickens investigations, a traditional British detective series set in Victorian London.

‘a fast-paced and page-turning tale. This cleverly written Victorian mystery will have broad appeal. Highly recommended’ – Historical Novel Society

‘an eloquently written suspense murder thriller, in the genre of Sherlock Holmes ... foggy wet England – is so well described that one shivers as one turns to the next page and looks forward to that warm cup of tea’ – Author Spotlight Magazine

‘Briggs has captured Dickens’ gift of caricature and sense of the ludicrous side of life. That, taken with the social comment, still as relevant as when he was writing, plus a modern plot, make this a story well worth reading’ – Crime Review

‘another enjoyable book from J. C. Briggs with its fascinating characters, real and imagined, its intricate mystery and its evocation of Victorian London and Manchester’ – Promoting Crime Fiction

The Charles Dickens Investigations Series:
BOOK ONE: The Murder of Patience Brooke
BOOK TWO: Death at Hungerford Stairs
BOOK THREE: Murder by Ghostlight
BOOK FOUR: The Quickening and the Dead
BOOK FIVE: At Midnight In Venice
BOOK SIX: The Redemption Murders
BOOK SEVEN: The Mystery of the Hawke Sapphires
BOOK EIGHT: The Chinese Puzzle
BOOK NINE: Summons to Murder
BOOK TEN: The Jaggard Case
BOOK ELEVEN: The Waxwork Man
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  1. Book 3 of 11
    Charles Dickens Investigations
  2. Print length
    293 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    January 24, 2019
  5. File size
    2.2 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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  9. See all details
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There are 11 books in this series.
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Charles Dickens Investigations Book 1 - Book 10
Charles Dickens Investigations Book 1 - Book 11
Bundle price: Kindle price
$10.97
Bundle price: Kindle price
$21.95
Bundle price: Kindle price
$51.90
Bundle price: Kindle price
$57.89
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jean Briggs is proving herself to be a crime writer to watch out for." —Crime Fiction Lover

"a fast-paced and page-turning tale."—Historical Novel Society

About the Author

J. C. Briggs is a retired English teacher and the author of the Charles Dickens Investigations series.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07LBYCW93
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sapere Books (January 24, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 24, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.2 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 293 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 563 ratings

About the author

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J.C. Briggs

J.C. Briggs

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I write historical crime fiction. My amateur detective is the great Victorian novelist, Charles Dickens. Dickens was fascinated by crime and murder. He went out with the London Police into the grim slums of London and visited the police stations to see how they all worked. According to a recent biographer, Dickens would have enjoyed being a detective. I gave him his wish. He makes a good detective - he is very observant, very clever at working out motive and following the clues with his partner, Superintendent Jones of Bow Street.

Victorian London is a great setting for a murder mystery - all that fog and very sinister alleys. It is fascinating to research the period from Dickens's own novels, the biographies and Dickens's letters. I like to know what he's up to in the periods of his life when the stories take place. All the books are based on something which really happened in Dickens's life. He set up a home for fallen women. I wondered what he would do if one of the girls was murdered and that was the idea for the first book.

When I'm not reading Dickens or writing Dickens, I give talks about him and other Victorian novelists and enjoy my garden in the Yorkshire Dales.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
563 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoy the book and find it informative. They appreciate the well-written mystery with suspense and intrigue. The characters are described in detail. Readers describe the pacing as imaginative and fun.

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EnjoymentCharacter developmentWriting qualityPacing
5 customers mention "Enjoyment"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They say it's informative and a good read, like reading a Dickens book.

"...Each book that JC Briggs offers is almost like reading a Dickens book!..." Read more

"This is imaginative and interesting. Importantly, it is a lot of fun. Have read the first three installments and will surely read the others." Read more

"...more Dickens investigation books, they are quite informative and very enjoyable." Read more

"Couldn't put it down. Was quite fun to read after watching the DVD Dickensian which also was full of Dicken's characters. Highly recommend." Read more

4 customers mention "Character development"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the character development. They appreciate the author's descriptive descriptions and how she recreates Dickens' world.

"...By the giving of names and descriptive summary of the characters, Briggs shows the deep thought of an extraordinary writer...." Read more

"...I love the ambiance and the characters and the humor! What I love most is that the murder happens almost immediately in these books...." Read more

"The author recreates Dicken's world and brings the reader along. Mystery, murders, suspense, and intrigue fill the page turning novel." Read more

"Setting, characters, plot- all enthralling...." Read more

4 customers mention "Writing quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality of the book. They find the mystery well-written and enjoy the author's writing style.

"...summary of the characters, Briggs shows the deep thought of an extraordinary writer...." Read more

"...Dickens, Dickens' classic characters brought to life, and a well written mystery. For what more can a reader ask?" Read more

"...books has led me to start reading Dickens and I discovered I really enjoy his writing...." Read more

"The author recreates Dicken's world and brings the reader along. Mystery, murders, suspense, and intrigue fill the page turning novel." Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and interesting. They say it's a fun series that provides informative content.

"This is imaginative and interesting. Importantly, it is a lot of fun. Have read the first three installments and will surely read the others." Read more

"...I look forward to more Dickens investigation books, they are quite informative and very enjoyable." Read more

"Fascinating Series..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Another stellar offering
    Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This is my honest and voluntary review.

    Each book that JC Briggs offers is almost like reading a Dickens book! The characters are so like those who grace Dickens' books that I had to remember that Briggs is the writer. By the giving of names and descriptive summary of the characters, Briggs shows the deep thought of an extraordinary writer.

    If you are a fan of Dickens, then become a fan of JC Briggs. You will be sucked into the events & unable to leave this world of words until you are done! I highly recommend this book & all the Charles Dickens Murder Mysteries. In order to get aquainted with the regular characters & follow some of the brilliant substories throughout the books, be sure to start with The Murder of Patience Brooks.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • L. S. Hardy
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Series
    Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2019
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    Victorian England, Charles Dickens, Dickens' classic characters brought to life, and a well written mystery. For what more can a reader ask?
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  • T. Nozlo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fun
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This is imaginative and interesting. Importantly, it is a lot of fun. Have read the first three installments and will surely read the others.
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  • jessa carlyle
    5.0 out of 5 stars J.C. Briggs must write faster!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I love this author! I'm on the last book available in the series and I will be disappointed in whatever I read after this. I love the ambiance and the characters and the humor! What I love most is that the murder happens almost immediately in these books. No wading through 10 chapters before the murder occurs. And the author has a subtle way of weaving happy endings into each book that seems plausible. Although I am still worried about little Jo from the 3rd book. Read these books you will not be disappointed!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • CHARLIE SPERAN
    5.0 out of 5 stars A good read.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This series of books has led me to start reading Dickens and I discovered I really enjoy his writing. I look forward to more Dickens investigation books, they are quite informative and very enjoyable.
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  • J. Lesley
    4.0 out of 5 stars A very 'literary' feel to this mystery.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2017
    I received an e-ARC of this novel through NetGalley and Trafalgar Square Publishing, The History Press. Thank you.

    This third mystery in the Charles Dickens and Superintendent Jones series will please readers who enjoy a novel which places strong emphasis on both historical settings and the literature of Charles Dickens. Author J. C. Briggs has written impressively in the style I would have expected if this book had actually been written by Dickens. All kinds of elements of his life and his literary works appear throughout the novel and succeeded in placing me very firmly in the England of 1850. The first portion of the novel takes place in Manchester where descriptions of the industrial city read as if they came directly from the pen of Dickens. After the second performance of a play Dickens has acted in and sponsored he returns to the empty theatre to find a man seated in a chair on the stage which is lit by the ghostlight. The man is dead and Dickens soon finds himself taken into custody as the main suspect in the death. He can't help but wonder why he ever picked up that pistol.

    Naturally it will help enormously in your enjoyment of this novel if you like the writings of Charles Dickens. The author has done a wonderful job of using the types of descriptions you would find in a Dickens novel to describe both Manchester and London as well as the people Dickens and Jones come across in solving this case. The mystery is also constructed in a way I can imagine Dickens using - sometimes taking the long way around in favor of dense prose when more basic, succinct wording probably would have done just as well. Some of this denseness caused the book to be a slow read for me; quite enjoyable, but slow nonetheless. I don't think I would want to read two of the books back to back, but that's just me.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • book lover
    5.0 out of 5 stars Setting, characters, plot- all enthralling.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The detail is so incredible, you don’t have to visualize anything. You are a witness, even a companion. Love it.
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  • Daniel
    3.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, but the story is too slow for a full recommendation.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2018
    Charles Dickens becomes the prime suspect in a murder when he is seen standing over a dead body on a Manchester stage while holding a gun. Fortunately for Dickens, he has a prior relationship with Superintendent Jones and the two of them set out to find the real killer. The search takes Dickens and Jones through some of the seedier neighborhoods and Dickens will face threats to his life.

    I definitely like the concept of Charles Dickens working with the local constabulary on solving crimes, and author J.C. Briggs seems to have a good historical knowledge of Dickens and his interests. Sometimes, however, this got in the way of the story as characters from Dickens' books sometimes showed up (or, rather, characters who were the inspiration for Dickens sometimes made an appearance). This had more of a flavor of Briggs trying to show how clever she was, rather than something important to the story.

    The mystery itself was engaging enough, with a quite affable Charles Dickens leading the way (and of course it made perfect sense that he had the time to investigate). The character appearances was just distracting from the story (for me).

    This is the third book in a series, and there were a few moments when I felt as though I was missing a piece of information because I hadn't read the previous books, but for the most part this stands alone as a story with a beginning, middle, and end.

    Writing the speech patterns with the 'authentic,' phonetic spellings for the various accents was quite distracting. For instance (picked randomly):
    <blockquote>’E wor waitin’ for yor so I let ’im come in out o’ the cowd – ’t’int fit for a dog out theer. ’E looked that starved, I give ’im a piece o’ me bread an’ cheese. Inspector let yor go then? I knowed yor ’adn’t don it, sir, but yon constable as came wi’ me was that keen t’arrest someone, he wouldn’t listen.’</blockquote>
    I have a pace when I read - a pace that lets me enjoy what I'm reading. I'll slow down my pace for two reasons ... 1) I'm really enjoying something and I absolutely want to savor it, and 2) I'm struggling to understand something. This dialog is #2 ... I had to slow way down to really follow the dialog, and slowing down took me out of the story - the absolute opposite of what an author wants to do. Perhaps if I were British this would roll off the tongue a little easier for me?

    Although the mystery surrounding the murder was interesting, the book struggled to keep me reading as the pace often dragged.

    A great concept and a great character drawn from a recognizable historical figure, but the execution of the story didn't quite work.

    Looking for a good book? Murder by Ghostlight by J.C. Briggs is a wonderful concept, with Charles Dickens investigating a crime he's accused of committing, but the story is a little too slow for a full recommendation.

    I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
    6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Sarah loves books tea and rainy days
    5.0 out of 5 stars Another brilliant mystery with Dickens and Jones
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This series just gets better with each book and I think this has to be my favourite so far. In Murder by Ghostlight Dickens himself is accused of murder after a fellow actor in one of his plays is found dead. Can Dickens probe his innocence and discover the real murderer before he strikes again?...

    I continue to be in awe of how beautifully this author writes and I love her interpretation of Dickens and how much research she has put in to the story. I also loved the friendship between Dickens and Jones and the interaction between them. The writing is also very evocative of the time period and I felt as if I had gone back in time while I was reading.

    I adore this series and I cannot wait to read the next two books.
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  • John Kames
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
    Reviewed in Germany on February 6, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    A lot of "Dickens" and a lot of knowledge of London's streets necessary to follow the path of the sleuths. Maybe a road map of London should be attached to the book?
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  • Peter Robinson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Ah Dickens not Holmes
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Well written detective story, Based around C. Dickens for a change
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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Death in Manchester
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Charles Dickens visits the theatre in Manchester where he is producing a play, and finds an actor who has been shot. Dickens is arrested for the murder and Superintendent Sam Jones arrives to assist in the investigation. The usual J. C. Briggs characters become involved in the ensuing mystery. Manchester and London come alive with sounds, smells and people for which Briggs has become known. The pace and action is exciting and I could barely put the story down.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars murder by ghostlight by jc briggs
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    a real page turner and atmospheric read that takes you back to victorian times.I enjoy readinng charles dickens books so it is fascinating to read about dickens as a detective .the author as really brought him alive and you cannot help liking dickens and jones as detectives. the books are so well written and easy toread ,but do not loose the victorian or dickensian feel.
    Report

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