When Charles Dickens died having completed only half of his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, readers worldwide were left with one of the greatest literary mysteries of all time. What happened to Edwin Drood? Did he simply disappear, or was he murdered? Clues abound and evidence points to a vicious attack, but the truth is elusive.

The Return of Edwin Drood offers a tantalizing theory. A decade has passed since Drood's disappearance and presumed death. Now he suddenly reappears. He has been living in America where he has gradually overcome amnesia brought on by a savage attack 10 years earlier. His memory now fully restored, Drood returns to his home in England to reclaim his life and property, to rekindle his relationship with Rosa, the woman with whom he was once in love, and to discover the identity of the assailant who stole 10 years of his life. 

With the help of world-renowned illusionist Madame Robert, Drood sets into motion an elaborate plan to discover the assailant's identity and to force a confession. As Drood closes in on his target, questions arise about the nature of forgiveness and redemption and the relationship between justice and revenge.