When a rich miser dies, his inheritance is to pass to his estranged son John Harmon, who must return from South Africa to claim it, on condition that he marries a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer.

When John Harmon goes missing and is presumed dead, the fortune passes instead to the miser's faithful employees Mr. and Mrs. Boffin. Rich with psychological and social insight into the effects of money on society, "e;Our Mutual Friend"e;, the last novel that Charles Dickens completed is considered by many to be one of his most sophisticated works.