For people who have read the novel, Marley Was Dead, and have questions, this is a short, helpful guide.Marley Was Dead is linked to Dickens's A Christmas Carol, but the descriptions of mid-Victorian London are more fascinating than the mystery, This guide answers some questions about the sociology of the book, including the mud larks, markets, and daily mayhem of the city. For example, being a mud lark, sifting through the mud of the Thames with bare feet for lost items, was indeed a profession, as was gathering dog excrement for the tanning industry.