Dickens' final, unfinished novel has inspired generations of speculation Choirmaster John Jasper is a man of deep hypocrisy. His public reputation is flawless yet privately he leads an immoral life, frequenting squalid opium dens. Although outwardly he seems delighted with the betrothal of his nephew Edwin Drood to Rosa Bud, one of his choristers, secretly he is consumed by jealousy. But he is not alone in hoping for Edwin's demise. Among others, hot-tempered Neville Landless has also made an enemy of Drood--so when Edwin disappears, at whom should the accusing finger point?

As the case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce--a long and hopeless lawsuit over a disputed will--drags slowly on through the courts, it begins to wear down all those caught in its complicated web. Esther Summerson, an orphan placed in the care of the kind and gentle John Jarndyce at Bleak House, can only watch on as the people she loves are consumed by the proceedings. But when Esther's past comes looking for her, will the discovery of her true identity finally lead her to the answers she has been searching for?

John Harmon is a young man estranged from his family, yet on his way from South Africa to London to receive his inheritance. But, according to his father's will, he can only claim it if he marries Bella Wilfer, a beautiful London girl whom he has never met. Before John arrives to claim his birthright, an unknown body is found drowned in the Thames and identified as him. The money passes instead to family servants Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, who welcome into their home the disappointed bride-to-be. But when their associate Silas Wegg tries to blackmail the Boffins with an alternative will, Bella must...