The first installments of the detective novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood—called by G. W. Longfellow 'one of Dickens's best books, if not the best'—appeared in April 1870. It was a resounding success, and all of England was in a state of agitation, eager to discover whether John Jasper, who had not spared Edwin Drood in the name of his mad passion, would succeed in his sinister plan. But in June of that year, Charles Dickens died; the novel remained unfinished, and the author told no one what the ending would be. This edition contains both The Mystery of Edwin Drood itself and several appendices intended to shed light on Dickens's final mystery.