It is a mystery which has long baffled and excited fans of Charles Dickens, and caused arguments in literary circles.
Some believe Charles Dickens' Edwin Drood is dead, murdered by his uncle or love rival, while others think the engineering student has simply followed his dreams to go to Egypt.
Others suspect the character is merely lurking in Cloisterham in disguise - after his fate was never revealed because Charles Dickens died in 1870 while working on the manuscript for The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Now a group of academics hope to solve the 150-year-old mystery of what actually happened to Edwin Drood by allowing readers to vote online for their preferred ending through a crowd-sourcing website.
The project has been launched by Dr Pete Orford, an expert in Dickens at the University of Buckingham who has written several books on the author.
A very modern ending for Dickens' final unfinished work as academics turn to crowd-sourcing to complete The Mystery Of Edwin Drood
Charles Dickens died in 1870 before finishing The Mystery of Edwin Drood
He published his book in instalments and readers were left on tenterhooks
Theories include that Drood was murdered by his uncle or is in hiding
Speculation led to plays, a BBC drama and numerous books on the ending
Dr Pete Orford, of Buckingham University, has launched a website in a bid to clear up the mystery and give people a chance to vote for the ending
He said people want a 'worthy' ending that is 'surprising and phenomenal'
He published his book in instalments and readers were left on tenterhooks
Theories include that Drood was murdered by his uncle or is in hiding
Speculation led to plays, a BBC drama and numerous books on the ending
Dr Pete Orford, of Buckingham University, has launched a website in a bid to clear up the mystery and give people a chance to vote for the ending
He said people want a 'worthy' ending that is 'surprising and phenomenal'
It is a mystery which has long baffled and excited fans of Charles Dickens, and caused arguments in literary circles.
Some believe Charles Dickens' Edwin Drood is dead, murdered by his uncle or love rival, while others think the engineering student has simply followed his dreams to go to Egypt.
Others suspect the character is merely lurking in Cloisterham in disguise - after his fate was never revealed because Charles Dickens died while working on the manuscript for The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Now a group of academics hope to solve the 150-year-old mystery of what actually happened to Edwin Drood by allowing readers to vote online for their preferred ending through a crowd-sourcing website.
The project has been launched by Dr Pete Orford, an expert in Dickens at the University of Buckingham who has written several books on the author.
'There is a fascination with this book and people have been turning to it for almost 150 years to work out an ending,' said Dr Orford.
'People want to have an ending that they feel is worthy of Dickens, that's surprising and phenomenal.'
Dickens was working on the manuscript of The Mystery of Edwin Drood when he died of a stroke in 1870. His fans had been kept on tenterhooks by the story because he published it in instalments and was about halfway through when he suddenly died.
Various adaptations guessing the intended ending have been made - including that Drood, an orphan, was murdered by his uncle John Jasper in the fictional town of Cloisterham, based on Rochester. Others have pointed the finger at Neville Landless, a love rival for the young student's fiancee.
Several films and even a Broadway musical have all dealt with the mysterious ending but Dr Orford hopes that now it could be solved by people voting for what they think happened to Drood.
The University of Buckingham created a digital library of Dickens' weekly magazines and Dr Orford used this to create a separate website speculating on the untimely ending of Edwin Drood.
Around 100,000 people have already visited the site and about 1,000 have posted their views on the ending.
Dr Orford added: 'This book has been unfinished for almost 150 years now. And the response to it has been phenomenal.
'People have been drawn into the intricacies and trying to draw out the story.
'But because of this attention, it has moved more people away from the book because they start to believe it's for the absolute experts and theorists. I want to find a way to open this up again and give the public the chance to express their opinion on the ending.'
He said visitors to the website are invited to read the case notes and give their verdict on the mystery.
Dr Orford said the lack of ending was in fact a 'perfect finale' to a Dickens novel as it allows readers to remain engaged with him.
An engraving of opium smoking called 'The Lascar's Room in Edwin Drood' by Gustave Dore in 1872 has added to the mystery over what happened to engineering student Edwin Drood when he disappeared
He added: 'It fascinates me why we keep turning to this book and asking these questions. It's not that unusual for an author to die halfway through a manuscript but this has captured people's attention.
'It's the most perfect final book for Dickens because it's not finished and allows the dialogue between reader and writer which he loved to continue.'
Dr Orford said that because of the popularity of Dickens many people feel pressure to come up with intricate story lines, including many involving characters who are not central to the plot of Drood's disappearance. He cites one theory of a man who believed all of the characters were based on Ancient Greek Gods. This was based on the belief that a character named Luke Honeythunder was in fact Zeus and father to all the characters, making them all related.
'My own theory is rather boring,' added Dr Orford.
The last handwritten page of the Edwin Drood manuscript has led to years of speculation about the ending
'I don't believe there is any reason not to believe friends of Dickens and his biographer that Edwin dies at the hands of Jasper.
People will always want something a bit extra, that's surprising and phenomenal, because it is Dickens.
'They have all sorts of ideas, and normally not for the main characters.'
The site includes profiles of the main characters and suspects in the mystery who include Drood's uncle Jasper. He is described as: 'a caring guardian to his orphaned nephew Edwin; if anything “Mr Jasper’s heart may be too much set upon his nephew”, and it has been observed that Jasper maintained “a look of hungry, exacting, watchful, and yet devoted affection” upon young Edwin at all times.'
Rosa Bud, a fellow orphan and the fiance of Drood, is described as having her 'seemingly blissful life darkened' by the disappearance of her companion.
People visiting the website called the Drood Inquiry are asked to vote anonymously on various aspects of the ending such as whether he is dead or alive, where his body is and who killed or attempted to kill the student.
At the moment the votes cast are strongly in favour that the young Edwin Drood is in fact dead, murdered by John Jasper. Most believe his body is hidden in the Sapsea Tomb, but some think he could have been concealed in quick lime.
At the moment the votes cast are strongly in favour that the young Edwin Drood is in fact dead, murdered by John Jasper. Most believe his body is hidden in the Sapsea Tomb, but some think he could have been concealed in quick lime.
Opinion is far more divided on the fate and identity of the other characters. John Jasper and Neville Landless are tipped to be other casualties in the story but readers appear to be unsure whether Dick Datchery is in fact a detective, Helena Landless or an actor.
Results of the vote will be published in April to coincide with an exhibition about Edwin Drood organised by the University of Buckingham.
John Forster, biographer to Dickens, had previously claimed that Dickens told him the story was to be one of a young man murdered by his uncle, who is eventually sent to prison for the killing.
However doubt was poured on his theories after critics found he had muddled up some of the details.
Dr Orford's idea builds on that of the 1985 Broadway musical, which paused half way through to allow the audience to decide between eight potential detectives, seven possible murder suspects and six would-be lovers to give the story their own happy ending.
VICTIM OF A MURDER OR A MAN IN HIDING? THE TALE OF EDWIN DROOD
There are several theories about what happened to Edwin Drood and disagreement whether the character was intended to die or merely went into hiding.
In the 19th century the prevailing view was that Drood was in hiding after an attempt on his life, made by his uncle John Jasper.
Others believe the young student was murdered by John Jasper because his uncle had confessed to him about his opium habit. Jasper was also believed to be in love with Drood's fiance Rosa Bud.
One theory is that Neville Landless may have murdered Drood because he was a rival for the affections of Rosa Bud. He then is believed to return in disguise as Detective Dick Datchery.
The sudden death of Charles Dickens in 1870 led to an almost immediate reaction by American theorists who started coming up with possible endings to the story.
Henry Morford, a New York journalist, wrote an ending to the book after travelling to Rochester. In his version Drood survived an attempt on his life by John Jasper. Detective Dick Datchery then appears as Mr Bazzard, a clerk and playwright, in disguise. In the 1800s there were rumours that the book itself had been written by Dickens.
In 1873 Thomas James, a printer from Vermont, published a version which he claimed had been 'ghost-written' by him channelling Dickens's spirit.
Some believe Drood returned in disguise - possibly in the form of detective Dick Datchery who appeared six months after his disappearance.
The audience were given the chance to choose their own ending from an array of seven suspects during a Broadway adaptation of the book in the 1980s.
In the 1990s one theory was that each character represented an Ancient Greek God and all were related.
In 2012 BBC 2 attempted its own ending of the tale with a two part series.
