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If you could select a group of authors and have each of them write a segment of a story as if they were Charles Dickens, what would the result be like? The answer is DEATH BY DICKENS. Anne Perry selected ten authors, besides herself, and each one wrote an original Dickens-like story to complete this anthology with many of the most famous stories and characters being revisited with a twist or perhaps a different conclusion to the famous original. The reader only needs to be slightly acquainted with the works to enjoy this collection. The authors included are Lillian Stewart Carl, Bill Crider, P N Elrod, Martin Edwards, Carolyn Wheat, Marcia Talley, Carole Nelson Douglas, Peter Tremayne, Brendan DuBois, Gillian Linscott, and of course, Anne Perry. In A Stake of Holly this revisit to Scrooge brings a more realistic aspect of ghosts in that Scrooge wants to find out who they were in real life and why they are ghosts. Particularly chilling is Mr Pickwick vs the Body Snatchers. Bill Crider's aspect of realism with the problem of body snatching makes for a tale of relief when this short story is ended as the reader, as well as the characters, is allowed to rest. The Passing Shadow by Peter Tremayne is haunting as to the personal literary relationships within Dickens' family. With a different comparative approach, though, is the comically-written tale by Carole Nelson Douglas entitled Scrogged: A Cyber Christmas Carol. This is definitely an original version of the Scrooge tale but with strong ties to the Enron scandal and the executives. Ms Douglas' tale with Ben Scroggs, who strongly resembles Scrooge, as an Enron accountant is a wonderful combination of the past and the present. From his personal secretary and her ill son, to the dissolving of the 401K plans, to the relationship of the nephew, even though the reader should know how this will end, there are enough new twists to keep the reader deeply enthralled with this tale. Whether revisiting the well-known characters of Dickens or the time period, DEATH BY DICKENS is a wonderful anthology compilation. This is the second anthology that Anne Perry has edited and published. This unusual collection should be read by everyone who is even slightly acquainted with Dickens or just wants to revisit their old character friends.
Reviewed by Teri Davis, July 2004
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