Author: Charles Finch
Published: February 20th 2018 by Minotaur Books
Format: Hardcover, 292 pages
Genre: Mystery
Series: Charles Lenox Mysteries (Prequel)
With wordy exhaustion, I now remember why I pick up a Lennox book only once a year. Though Charles Finch has a way with words, his books are both a welcome relief and a challenge after a long day. They are not designed as a quick read, but rather a long slow stroll through the minds and places of 1850’s London.
After writing 10 books and novellas in the Charles Lennox series, the author has decided to take a step back and write a prequel. Setting in place his relationships and how as a 23-year-old, with Graham at his side, he began his career to both his father’s befuddlement and later to his praise, as a gentleman detective.
As a novelty, Lennox and Graham begin their day by comparing stories in the local newspapers. A letter has reached the Challenger offices and its author lays claim to being the mastermind of a perfect crime. With curiosity piqued and a body discovered, Lennox and Graham set out to identify the perpetrator before a second body can show up. With false leads and a bit of an ego battle within the Yard, Lennox and Graham fill in the blanks, but are a step behind when the second body is placed on a riverbank. Now as time is running out before a promised third shows up, they must regroup and look at this from a different perspective – one that had been in front of them the whole time.
After meandering through most of the book and continue to check how much longer I had until the end, Charles Finch pulled both his unrequited love and the mystery of the woman in the water to a surprising conclusion. Though separate situations, they were both impressive in their own way. The clues were always there, yet with the author’s long-windedness, they were both somehow lost along the way.
After writing 10 books and novellas in the Charles Lennox series, the author has decided to take a step back and write a prequel. Setting in place his relationships and how as a 23-year-old, with Graham at his side, he began his career to both his father’s befuddlement and later to his praise, as a gentleman detective.
As a novelty, Lennox and Graham begin their day by comparing stories in the local newspapers. A letter has reached the Challenger offices and its author lays claim to being the mastermind of a perfect crime. With curiosity piqued and a body discovered, Lennox and Graham set out to identify the perpetrator before a second body can show up. With false leads and a bit of an ego battle within the Yard, Lennox and Graham fill in the blanks, but are a step behind when the second body is placed on a riverbank. Now as time is running out before a promised third shows up, they must regroup and look at this from a different perspective – one that had been in front of them the whole time.
After meandering through most of the book and continue to check how much longer I had until the end, Charles Finch pulled both his unrequited love and the mystery of the woman in the water to a surprising conclusion. Though separate situations, they were both impressive in their own way. The clues were always there, yet with the author’s long-windedness, they were both somehow lost along the way.
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