β Scribed by Charles Finch
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Set in 1860s London, Finch's middling fourth mystery featuring gentleman detective Charles Lenox (after 2009's The Fleet Street Murders) finds Lenox newly married to his longtime friend, Lady Jane Grey, and newly elected to Parliament. When Ludovic Starling, a slight acquaintance, asks Lenox to look into the bludgeoning murder of his footman, Frederick Clarke, Lenox, who wonders why Starling hasn't called in Scotland Yard, at first declines. In the end, despite the demands of his new vocation, Lenox agrees to help. The investigator, who's troubled to learn that Starling has been less than forthright with him, can't accept the police theory that a rival servant killed Clarke. Finch equips Lenox with his own Bunter in the person of a former butler turned political secretary, but the pair come across as weak, warmed-over versions of the golden age Dorothy Sayers originals. Portentous chapter endings undermine the otherwise solid prose. (Nov.) (c)
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Charles Lenox, the gentleman detective, is now a member of Parliament. He just wants to focus on his new duties, including the preparation of his maiden speech. He is also settling into married life with Lady Jane Grey. Matters become more complicated when an old friend and fellow MP, Ludovic Starling, asks him to launch a discreet investigation into the death of one of his servants. With his assistants, John Dallington and Thomas McConnell, helping out, Lenox tries his best to balance his new political duties with the investigation. As he prowls through the pubs, boxing clubs, and servantsβ quarters of Victorian London, he discovers some very dark secrets and finds himself in danger from a killer who is willing to strike again to keep him quiet. Finch (The Fleet Street Murders, 2009) captures the atmosphere of Victorian London and creates a solid British mystery that will appeal to both procedural and cozy readers. --Barbara Bibel
Mysteries
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