The Humbug Murders: An Ebenezer Scrooge Mystery

Houses of ill fame, naughty noblemen, mutilation and murder, opium dens, conspiracies, blackmail, dim-witted coppers, and a cast that includes, among others, Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Mr. Pickwick, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Charles Dickens himself%E2%80%94it's all here in Oliver's tale set during the run-up to Christmas, 1833. The story opens with private investigator Scrooge and his soon-to-be partner, Adelaide Owen, witnessing the visitation of the spirit of the recently deceased Fezziwig, Scrooge's former employer. This premonitory ghost warns the duo that three more will die and that Scrooge himself will perish if he doesn't solve the murders. The police waste no time in showing up at Scrooge's door and declaring him to be their prime suspect. They drag him and the fetching young Adelaide down to Fezziwig's office, where the word humbug is scrawled on the wall in blood. Oliver%E2%80%94the joint pen name of the late Scott Ciencin (Jurassic Park 3) and Elizabeth A.A. Wilson (Ascension Denied)%E2%80%94includes enough action and sufficient twists and turns to provide some fun by the fireside, accompanied, perhaps, by a nice glass of Madeira. (Nov.)