What the Dickens??

I got another very nice review today for A Christmas Carol 2:  The Return of Scrooge, this one from the book blogger website, WV Stitcher.   (Okay, it's not the New York Times Book Review.  But then, the book isn't F. Scott Fitzgerald.)

What I love though is a comment the reviewer makes, which quite a few others have surprisingly made:

"While the story had the feel of the original tale Mr. Elisberg's humor added a freshness to the story. Mr. Elisberg's writing is so convincing that I am actually still wondering if this was a lost work of Mr. Dickens?"

I certainly love that the writing worked so well to that extent.  But to "actually" wonder if this is a lost work by Charles Dickens does make me shake my head.  I know she could just be speaking in exaggeration, but it's that word "actually" that has me wary.  (I'm serious about this.  If this was a unique case, I'd be less skeptical, and think it was a quip.  But in truth there have far been too many that suggest otherwise.  One, for instance, wrote "I think if Elisberg took the time and became a 'co-author'" with Dickens -- c'mon, what in the world did she think I did??! -- and then added, "I thought it was neat how Dickens included characters from other books he'd written.") 

Forgetting that the humor in the book and use of other characters from Dickens novels is so not Dickens, if there was really, truly "actually" a lost novel by Charles Dickens, I have a funny feeling it would have made the news, in a really big way.  And if you're "actually still wondering," then simply use a search engine.  They really work pretty well.

Mind you, I'm not quibbling.  Especially since the review was so positive.  It's great when reviewers say something like this.  I just don't get it.  But who am I to say?  I'm just a guy who edits Charles Dickens...