Did Edwin Drood simply vanish into the night on Christmas Eve, or was he murdered with a black silk scarf by his uncle Jasper? Or was he possibly done in with a walking stick, brandished by one Neville Landless? It has only been a few months since John Jasper, the choirmaster at Cloisterham Cathedral, stepped from his favorite opium den to pay a visit to his nephew Edwin. Edwin, it seems, is contemplating ending his arranged engagement to Rosa Bud. The neglected bride-to-be, however, has two other admirers: Rosa’s frightening choirmaster, the very same uncle Jasper, and her best friend Helena’s volatile twin, Neville Landless. With both John and Neville toting possible murder weapons to Christmas dinner at the Landless’ home, Dickens’ greatest unsolved mystery heats up fast. Alas, The Mystery of Edwin Drood was left unfinished at Dickens’ death in 1870, compelling generations of readers to rummage among the scant clues—and a large cast of sinister and comic characters—to deduce Edwin’s killer for themselves. If, that is, Dickens ever intended him to be murdered at all.
