The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Setting

Main Characters

Edwin Drood: An orphan, engaged to Rosa Bud. He plans to go to Egypt to be an engineer.
Rosa Bud: A wealthy orphan, engaged to Edwin Drood. Their betrothal was arranged by their fathers when they were children.
John Jasper: The choirmaster of Cloisterham Cathedral. Edwin’s uncle, and Rosa’s music teacher.
Neville and Helena Landless: Orphan twins who come to Cloisterham from Sri Lanka. Neville is in love with Rosa, while Helena is Rosa’s close friend.
Reverend Crisparkle: Minor canon of Cloisterham cathedral, and Neville’s mentor.
Durdles: The local undertaker and stonemason.

Summary

John Jasper leaves a London opium den before he is visited by his nephew, Edwin, who confides that he has concerns about his betrothal to Rosa. Edwin then visits Rosa at the boarding school in Cloisterham where she lives, while Jasper seeks the company of the undertaker and stonemason Durdles to learn more about the cathedral crypt.

When the Landless twins arrive in Cloisterham, Rosa confides in Helena that she loathes and fears Jasper. Neville is smitten with Rosa and is outraged that Edwin takes his engagement so lightly. Neville and Edwin argue, and Jasper spreads rumours about Neville’s temper. Neville’s mentor Crisparkle arranges for the two men to dine together on Christmas Eve at Jasper’s home to reconcile.

Rosa and Edwin amicably end their engagement. Meanwhile, Durdles takes Jasper to the crypt, highlighting a mound of quicklime and its ability to dissolve flesh. Jasper gives Durdles a bottle of wine and Durdles loses consciousness, but dreams that Jasper goes alone into the crypt before returning. Edwin meets an opium user who tells him someone named “Ned” is in great danger –but the only person who calls him “Ned” is his uncle Jasper. The reconciliation dinner goes well, and Edwin and Neville leave together to walk down the river.

The next morning Edwin is missing, and Jasper pushes suspicions that Neville has killed him. While on a walking tour, Neville is accosted by townspeople and brought back to the city. Crisparkle keeps Neville out of jail, and Mr Grewgious tells Jasper that Edwin and Rosa broke off their engagement. Jasper reacts more strongly to this news than to Edwin’s disappearance. The next morning Crisparkle finds Edwin’s watch and chain by the river.

Six months later, Jasper visits Rosa and professes his love. She rejects him but he persists, threatening to destroy Neville if she refuses.

Charles Dickens’ death meant the novel was never finished, and the likely ending has been debated. Dickens’ friend and biographer John Forster said that Dickens had revealed in a letter that Jasper murdered Edwin, using the lime to dispose of his body.