The Mystery of Edwin Drood

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished novel by English author Charles Dickens, published posthumously in 1870. Only 6 of the 12 projected parts had been completed by the time of Dickens’s death.

Although Dickens had included touches of the gothic and horrific in his earlier works, Edwin Drood was his only true mystery story. He left few clues as to how he intended to end the work, and the solution itself remains a mystery.

Edwin Drood is the ward of Jack Jasper, the choirmaster of Cloisterham and an outwardly respectable opium addict. Jasper secretly loves Drood’s fiancée, Rosa Bud. Drood and Rosa no longer love each other and break their engagement. Drood disappears soon thereafter. Neville Landless, also in love with Rosa, is arrested for Drood’s murder but is released when no body is found. Jasper confesses his love to Rosa and threatens to incriminate Neville unless she returns his love. Datchery, a stranger, arrives, shadowing and vexing Jasper—and there the manuscript ends.

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In 1985 Rupert Holmes adapted the novel into a musical for the stage. It premiered that year at the New York Shakespeare Festival and eventually moved to Broadway. The following year it won five Tony Awards, including best musical, book, and score. There have also been several film adaptations.