The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Dickens's last novel, a mystery unfinished at his death, has become all the more tantalizing to avid readers who have tried to provide a solution to the mystifying disappearance of Edwin Drood.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was born in Portsmouth, England, and grew up in poverty, one of eight children. He became the preeminent writer of Victorian England, with most of his novels appearing in serial form before being published as books.

David Paroissien was educated in England and the United States and received his Ph.D. from UCLA. He taught for many years at the University of Massachusetts and is now emeritus professor of English. He is also the editor of the Dickens Quarterly.