The Chinese Puzzle (Charles Dickens Investigations #8)

Charles Dickens must unravel a mystery that stretches from the streets of London to the shores of Canton…

London, 1851

The Great Exhibition has opened, and everyone is flocking to see the wonders on display. But when a potential Chinese assassin manages to get up close to Queen Victoria, and then vanishes without a trace, the Prime Minister orders an urgent investigation.

Superintendent Sam Jones from Bow Street is put on the case to find the whereabouts of the missing man. And he discovers that Cornelius Mornay — a wealthy retired banker from Canton — also went missing on the same day.

As a former opium merchant, it seems that Cornelius had some powerful — and dangerous — connections.

The British government order Jones to keep his enquiries under wraps, so he enlists the help of his good friend Charles Dickens to infiltrate the seedier streets of London.

And when the body of Mornay is found washed up in Wapping, poisoned with opium, the plot starts to thicken.

Mornay is deeply connected to the Opium trade and the suspects are many. And when more murders occur, it seems this mystery could be connected to something larger than Dickens and Jones had ever imagined…

The Chinese Puzzle is the eighth urban mystery in J. C. Briggs’ literary historical series, the Charles Dickens investigations, a traditional British detective series set in Victorian London.