About the Author

Charles Finch is a graduate of Yale and Oxford. He is the author of the Charles Lenox mysteries, including The Fleet Street Murders and A Stranger in Mayfair. His first novel, A Beautiful Blue Death, was nominated for an Agatha Award and was named one of Library Journal's Best Books of 2007, one of only five mystery novels on the list. He lives in Oxford, England.

Reviews

"Even the most astute reader will be guessing to the end. Another triumph." --Library Journal (starred review) "An intriguing glimpse of student life at Oxford during the mid-Victorian era with a sleuth to rival Sherlock Holmes, only with more foibles and warmth than the original." --Rhys Bowen, author of Tell Me, Pretty Maiden "A fine specimen of the genre." --The Washington Post on A Beautiful Blue Death "The best sort of historical mystery--clever, charming, full of period detail, and a delight to read." --David Liss, author of the New York Times bestselling The Whiskey Rebels

As in Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four, a crime committed in India has consequences in England years later in Finch's less than successful second Victorian whodunit to feature amateur detective Charles Lenox (after 2007's A Beautiful Blue Death). Since a prologue set in 1847 India makes clear that a double murder there is connected to a murder in London in 1866, there's little mystery about the general nature of the motive behind the later crime. Lady Annabelle Payson consults the Peter Wimsey-like Lenox after the disappearance of her Oxford undergraduate son, George, who left behind in his college room a dead cat and a note referring to the September Society. When George turns up dead as well, Lenox vows to track down the killer, aided by his manservant, the Bunter-like Graham. While neither the prose nor the puzzle are at the level of A Beautiful Blue Death, that volume showed enough promise to suggest that the author is capable of better in the next installment. (Aug.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Adult/High School-Charles Lenox, Victorian private detective, has an opportunity to revisit his university days when he gets a case involving a missing second-year student at Lincoln College, Oxford. George Payson has vanished, leaving only an odd collection of items in the sitting room of his quarters: a frayed piece of string, half a tomato, a fountain pen, and a card labeled "The September Society." Oh, yes, and a dead cat. Lenox re-explores his old haunts as he pieces together the clues, which eventually lead him back to London and the headquarters of the mysterious society. Period details are present but not oppressive in this carefully plotted story. Lenox is an appealing character, and details of his personal life are scattered throughout, giving a rounded picture of the man while not hampering the detective portion of the story. Good writing, good plotting, an intriguing setting, and agreeable characters make this a solid choice for older teens.-Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, CA Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

"Even the most astute reader will be guessing to the end. Another triumph." --Library Journal (starred review) "An intriguing glimpse of student life at Oxford during the mid-Victorian era with a sleuth to rival Sherlock Holmes, only with more foibles and warmth than the original." --Rhys Bowen, author of Tell Me, Pretty Maiden "A fine specimen of the genre." --The Washington Post on A Beautiful Blue Death "The best sort of historical mystery--clever, charming, full of period detail, and a delight to read." --David Liss, author of the New York Times bestselling The Whiskey Rebels