A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries, #1)

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A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1)

by Charles Finch (Goodreads Author)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 8,650 ratings · 1,167 reviews

Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery.

Prudence Smith, one of Jane’s former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects some...more

Paperback, 324 pages

Published July 22nd 2008 by Minotaur Books (first published June 26th 2007)

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Jan 10, 2009 Jessica Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-historical

This is not a highly suspenseful mystery, but rather a quiet, Victorian, armchair-detective type book.

I liked Charles Lenox, the main character, and his ruminations on the oddity of Victorian culture and the impossibility of getting properly made boots. I do think that some of the minor characters (most notably servants and those of lesser class) weren't sketched out fully, but it seems appropriate given the mindset of the era that a gentlemen would think of these types of people in broad sterot...more

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May 08, 2013 Esther rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-to-be-read-challenge, audio-book, mystery-spy

2.5* It's not easy, writing a Victorian mystery these days. It's been done, well done - and I don't envy the person who tries the task on. This was a decent try, as they go, a quiet, almost snug mystery - but it had no edge whatsoever. And used a sandwich of unoriginal plot devices (1. The single, wealthy gentleman with a whip-smart manservant/friend/sidekick. 2. A thick-headed official who asks for help and then takes all the credit, albeit with the heroes' blessing.) These are a few of the thi...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Hollie Bush rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The author owes a serious debt of gratitude to Dorothy L. Sayers. If you believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then this book is downright effusive. The author is also a little too eager to demonstrate his mastery of historical trivia, which can take you out of the narrative - and wears a little thin as the novel progresses.
That being said the book is a fun and charming historical mystery that will undoubtedly be enjoyed by those of us who love Dorothy L. Sayers, Sir Arthur...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Antoinette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In 2013 my mystery book club is reading mysteries that won or were nominated for prizes. In January we will discuss books that won or were nominated for the Agatha. My choice was A Beautiful Blue Death written by Charles Finch, an Agatha Award nominee. It was also named one of the Literary Journal's Best Books of 2007. Finch's detective, Charles Lenox,
lives the comfortable life of a Victorian gentleman in London and loves nothing more than to read in front of a roaring fire in his private study....more

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Nov 23, 2012 Frances rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Charles Lenox, Victorian Gentleman, the sleuth introduced in this beautifully written mystery, follows in the well-trodden footsteps of Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion and the like as as Aristocratic Private Investigator who solves mysteries as a hobby. While he does come equipped with the regulation Butler/friend who assists him in his endeavours and with the lower class good-hearted assistant (think a grown-up Baker St Irregular), he also has a female friend and neighbour, Lady Jane Grey, wh...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Matt Schiariti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After just having finished Charles Finch's debut novel, I'm very glad I decided to start the series. It seems like every book I'm reading these days is part of an ongoing series (which I'm usually several books behind from the start!) but I decided to give it a shot based on my Amazon recommendations.

Long story short, Charles Lennox is a well respected 'man of leisure' in 19th London society. He also happens to be an amateur detective. When his long time friend and neighbor Lady Jane Gray asks h...more After just having finished Charles Finch's debut novel, I'm very glad I decided to start the series. It seems like every book I'm reading these days is part of an ongoing series (which I'm usually several books behind from the start!) but I decided to give it a shot based on my Amazon recommendations.

Long story short, Charles Lennox is a well respected 'man of leisure' in 19th London society. He also happens to be an amateur detective. When his long time friend and neighbor Lady Jane Gray asks him to look into the recent murder of a former servant of hers while under her current employer's roof, Charles can't help but accept the offer, both out of friendship and his genuine love for detective work. That, in a nutshell, is the plot of the book. However, it's not nearly as simple as that. Over the course of the novel the plot thickens as they say and Finch tells a tale that ends up in a very different place from which it started.

So often in period pieces such as this when the main character or characters are people of high station in life, they can come off as rather stuffy and boring to read. While Lenox is in no way hurting for money and is a London socialite, he brims with personality. Lenox is smart, sharp and likable in every way. One of his best friends is his butler, Graham. Being close with the help was really seen as below station back in those days but it's simply something that Lenox doesn't care about. Graham is his friend AND his sleuthing helper (think Watson and Sherlock Holmes). Lady Gray, also well off and of a high station, is equally likable. Both Charles and Jane never come off as bores or snobs.

The mystery itself as it unfolds is fun to read. Finch managed to make London come alive as Lenox seeks out the mystery, but he strikes a nice balance between depiction of place and movement of plot so the story never stalls. Each detail in the mystery as Lenox discovers it also has a purpose.

The characters are all well written and have their own voices. They're all very human too. Lenox debases himself when he makes a mistake, is quick to compliment people on a job well done, and the villains aren't super villains that can do no wrong. No moustache twisters one step ahead of the coppers at all times here!

All in all a great novel, even better considering it's Finch's debut, because it comes off as very polished. (less)

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May 13, 2012 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, mystery

Lord Peter Wimsey wannabe Charles Lennox is a wealthy, forty-something Victorian bachelor living in London next to his BFF Lady Jane (the author makes sure to point out how unusual this relationship is, particularly for the time, as if acknowledging that he knows it's unrealistic will help us suspend our disbelief), and with his faithful and loyal manservant Graham. Like Lord Peter, Lennox likes puzzles and murders, so when Lady Jane asks him to look into the death of a former housemaid of hers,...more Lord Peter Wimsey wannabe Charles Lennox is a wealthy, forty-something Victorian bachelor living in London next to his BFF Lady Jane (the author makes sure to point out how unusual this relationship is, particularly for the time, as if acknowledging that he knows it's unrealistic will help us suspend our disbelief), and with his faithful and loyal manservant Graham. Like Lord Peter, Lennox likes puzzles and murders, so when Lady Jane asks him to look into the death of a former housemaid of hers, now in the employ of their somewhat-friend George Barnard, Lennox agrees. He manages to discover, with the help of a formerly-alcoholic Scottish doctor friend, the unusual poison that's been used, but then is quickly tossed out of the house and the case by the irascible Inspector Exeter, who doesn't appreciate how Lennox keeps showing up his (Exeter's) stupidity by solving his cases. Of course, that doesn't stop Lennox.

I enjoyed this mystery, for the most part; the mystery itself was interesting and puzzling, and the world and the characters were well-built. The author's style didn't always work for me. He kept interjecting info-dumps about the characters' personalities and histories (and futures), rather than just letting us work them out for ourselves. He also tacked on about 50 pointless pages after the solving of the mystery, recounting Lennox's decidedly uninteresting holiday in the country. Perhaps this is late in the series and people are interested in the characters and their lives, and want to know more about how they while away their leisure time, but first-time readers will just be confused. Nothing happening works beautifully in the 'Thrush Green' books, which are about nothing in particular in the first place (just life in the Cotswolds), but doesn't work for murder mysteries.

Oh, and it didn't help that on the audiobook, the reader gave Lennox a voice akin to that of Mole from 'Wind in the Willows'--a sort of querelous, bumbling fussiness that imparted about the charisma of Lennox's perpetually damp boots.(less)

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May 05, 2012 Patty rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, crime, fiction, mystery, murder, great-britain, london, historical-fiction, charles-lenox, amateur-detective

This book's arrival in my reading pile was total serendipity. I don't usually read mysteries; I listen to them so I don't cheat and read the last page first. However, I was looking for something to read at one of our libraries and the title of this book jumped out at me. This volume and the third were sitting together waiting for me to find them.

Charles Lenox is the product of his time which is the Victorian era. However, he is willing to consider that some modernizations are a good thing. He is...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Mary Gilligan-Nolan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one I had recommended to me by a Goodreads friend and I would like to say a thank you for putting me on to this series. I really enjoyed it. It's a great old fashioned crime/mystery set in the late 1800's in London. A gentleman of leisure, Charles Lenox, who likes to dabble in solving crimes in his spare time, free of charge, as he is well set up financially. His life-long friend, Lady Jane Gray asks him to look into the death of her former maid, who has taken up a new position with anot...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This was a quick read, and quite enjoyable. I love a good series, and I couldn't resist checking out this mystery when I saw book 5 of the series on the New Books shelf at my library. The author is an American who graduated from Yale, and then got a master's degree at Oxford in England, where he now resides. I have developed an affinity for all things English, especially historically English, and in a small way I like to imagine that I was meant to be born in England in a different time entirely...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Jane Gorman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the rest in the series. Charles Lenox is endearing, engaging and entertaining. He seems to have it all – but he has his flaws, too. There’s nothing worse than a protagonist who’s nothing but perfect, and Lenox is just the right amount of imperfect.

The only thing better than the characters was the description and setting. I feel like I just got back from a trip to Victorian London! Which is exactly what I look for in my books – a fun escape....more

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Jan 21, 2012 Maia B. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, nothing-special

Well, it was fine, and entertaining, and written well enough, but...it seemed that the author was trying to make it a character-driven novel, and he did not succeed, which made it a bit clumsy in places. The dazzling leaps of deduction on the part of the main character did not dazzle me per se, because a) they were very, very far-fetched (wearing a father's pocket-watch means you're going to run for another seat in Parliament? what if you just liked the watch better? what if you miss your deceas...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Indiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, did-not-keep, historical, mystery, victorian-england

Liked it. This is a first time effort by the author and I think it is a very good start for a writing career. The story is a little bit Sherlock Holmes mixed with some P.J. Wodehouse. You feel like you’ve met these characters before in other stories, but not in a bad way. It was recommended to me on my amazon rec list and I found it pleasant to read. Charles Lenox is one of those gentleman detectives who solves mysteries for his own interest. You get a nice glimpse into Victorian society London....more

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Dec 15, 2011 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 3.5* of five

I submerged into 1865 London with surprising ease in this debut mystery. I was irked by lots of little picky detail boo-boos, but charmed by the characters of Charles Lenox and Lady Jane Grey, who *should* be called Lady Deere or the Dowager Countess of Deere, but whatever. Their interspecies friendship, as the Victorians would see it, is charming and sweet and very vibrantly drawn. Its charm makes me feel all squooshy inside.

And that's the real reason I've only rated this 3....more

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Nov 06, 2011 solaret rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was browsing the mystery section and found this. Most of the other books there were the sensationalist type, or from series that go on and on and on (Sue Grafton, just by its side). But the cover of this book was gorgeous. (At least, the version with all the pretty glass bottles.) And I like pretty covers. Other influences that may have biased me include the cheesecake and cappuccino I was consuming while reading this. You have been warned.

A Beautiful Blue Death is the first of a series. I thi...more I was browsing the mystery section and found this. Most of the other books there were the sensationalist type, or from series that go on and on and on (Sue Grafton, just by its side). But the cover of this book was gorgeous. (At least, the version with all the pretty glass bottles.) And I like pretty covers. Other influences that may have biased me include the cheesecake and cappuccino I was consuming while reading this. You have been warned.

A Beautiful Blue Death is the first of a series. I think there's three more after it so far. Like most mystery books, it revolves around a lone (amateur) detective who constantly finds himself involved in deaths. A digression here, but someone should tell mystery writers that you can create a perfectly good mystery without having people die. See Sherlock Holmes, for example.

Anyway, this is set in Victorian times. The closest comparisons I can think of are Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. Like Sherlock Holmes, there's a close circle of friends/acquaintances that help Charles Lenox with his cases - Thomas McConnell, a doctor who married into the upper crust of society; Lady Jane Grey, a love interest who introduces him to the case; Graham, his excellent butler; Exeter, a Scotland Yard detective who has little imagination and obstructs him whenever possible; and Edmund Lenox, the detective's brother who is doing very well in politics. Like with Agatha Christie, it's makes for quite comfortable reading. (Perfect with tea and cakes, I would think.) I never felt that Charles Lenox was in any real danger. This sort of deadens any suspense one might feel, especially since the first part seems to drag on without any real clues.

On the other hand, I loved the secondary characters. There's understated humor in each of the conversations, and no one is stupid, the way they are in many of Agatha Christie's novels. I found Graham and Edmund especially likeable.

The mystery was very well done. There were plenty of suspects, but no one jumping out as a red herring. I couldn't make out what was going on until the very end, when Charles Lenox explained it all. Even then, I still found myself surprised about the identity of the real criminal, yet looking back, there were enough clues that I could figure it out. My only gripe is that the author left quite a few loose ends, though I suppose that's why it's a series.

I look forward to reading the next one, The September Society.(less)

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Sep 17, 2011 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Friends, I have discovered an excellent new series. By far my favorite mysteries are ones where the detective drinks a lot of tea and does a lot of thinking; I secretly desire to be Miss Jane Marple when I grow up. Set during the days of Queen Victoria, A Beautiful Blue Death is a gem; it's thoughtful, detailed, funny, and engaging, and I didn't want it to be over once it actually was. Happily for me, there are several more books already published with another one coming out later this year. I l...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was particularly hard to rate. On the one hand, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But on the other hand, I can't really explain why. The mystery itself was compelling enough, but I never obsessed over the clues as I often do with a good mystery. Several major events happened late in the story, and are either resolved quickly or wrapped up suddenly in the final chapters. Normally I would hold such things against an author, but in this case I didn't mind. I suppose it was because I was consumed w...more

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Sep 26, 2010 Linda Lipko rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had to think about this book a few hours before writing a review. Why the hesitation? It isn't that I didn't like it. It isn't that it wasn't interesting. It wasn't so boring that I didn't finish it.

There is a scene in the 1984 movie Amadeus where Mozart's rival Antonio Salieri laments that he is "the patron saint of medicrity."

In pondering what to say about A Beautiful Blue Death, I was reminded of that quote. This book is indeed mediocre to the point that while it is worthy reading, it is no...more

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May 31, 2010 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone

I picked this up after inadvertently reading the third book (The Fleet Street Murders) in the series. I liked that enough to see if the series started out well or it had developed into something during the previous two books.

I'm happy to say that the author began with a good footing and that all three books are pretty decent reads. To be fair, I'd probably give this more of a 3.75 that a full-blown 4, but c'est la vie.

It is definitely a detective story but like the other two novels the actual cr...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Babs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, mystery-historical

When I picked this up thinking it was another book by a different author I read. I was totally mistaken, but this was a fortunate and happy accident. I really enjoyed this book. This is a historical mystery involving a gentleman and bachelor in Victorian England. (Wow, there seem to be an awful lot of mysteries set in Victorian England - or at least I seem to keep happening on them.) He gets involved in trying to solve a murder of maid that used to be in the employ of his childhood friend, Lady...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this book because I wanted to read a mystery novel. Not of some established author, but someone new. This was a leisurely read, in a way that it wasn't so much a page-turner or suspense-driven and you don't feel scared or chilled while reading. Perfect for reading on lazy Sundays and weeknights (when you have work the next morning) when you want to read something but not tire yourself or feel compelled to finish the novel because you want to find out the killer.

This is the first in the...more

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Dec 06, 2009 Starling rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical, mystery

I really enjoyed this book. It is quite different from other books I've read lately. Thanks to Goodreads I'm spreading my wings a bit. Among the differences is that the protagonist is male. Although I am following another series set about 30 years earlier, also in London, with a male protagonist, most of the historical mysteries that I've read that are set in Victorian times have female protagonists.

A lot of reviewers say that Charles Lenox is an armchair detective, but I don't see it that way m...more

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Nov 21, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Charles Finch's novel, A Beautiful Blue Death, is a well-researched debut novel. A mystery, it is set in mid-Victorian London, and introduces gentleman detective Charles Lennox, whose ambitious travel plans are continually disrupted by crimes in need of investigation. I enjoyed the portrayal of this somewhat laid back and congenial detective and appreciated his fondness for books and relaxation with literary tomes. With the addition of friend Lady Jane Grey he investigates the murder of her form...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Charles Lenox is a consummate Victorian gentleman -- fond of good books and good food, pleasant company, and a warm fire. But unlike most gentlemen of his social class, Lenox doesn't just visit his clubs and attend dinner parties -- he solves crimes. His wealth and status allow him to pursue his twin passions of academic research and travel as well as staying abreast of the latest in investigative methods and research, earning him a reputation for resourcefulness, discretion, and results. When L...more Charles Lenox is a consummate Victorian gentleman -- fond of good books and good food, pleasant company, and a warm fire. But unlike most gentlemen of his social class, Lenox doesn't just visit his clubs and attend dinner parties -- he solves crimes. His wealth and status allow him to pursue his twin passions of academic research and travel as well as staying abreast of the latest in investigative methods and research, earning him a reputation for resourcefulness, discretion, and results. When Lady Jane Grey, his closest friend and neighbor, learns that her one-time maid, Prue, has died in suspicious circumstances, she turns to Charles for assistance. Unable to resist the charms of his lovely neighbor and the thrill of a new case, Charles accepts her commission and is thrust into the world of the enigmatic Barnard's household, where nothing is as it seems and everyone is suspect. As the director of the Royal Mint, Barnard is eager to see his maid's death rule a suicide. But when Lenox learns that Prue died from bella indigo -- an extremely rare poison known as the "beautiful blue" -- all evidence points to a killer with money and connections, and a plot that if left unchecked could shake the foundations of the British economy.

Finch's debut introducing gentleman sleuth Charles Lenox is a cozy mystery lover's delight, replete with colorful characters, shadowy motives, and an investigator whose charm, persistence, and dedication to his craft promise a tidy resolution by the final chapter. Lenox is a charmer, thoroughly aristocratic in his manner and morals but wonderfully accessible, a bachelor set in his ways with unique academic interests and a determination to ferret out the truth of a case, no matter the cost. A cross between Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, with a dash of Wodehouse-ian warmth and humor, the character of Lenox is without a doubt this novel's greatest strength. A gentleman in every sense of the term, Lenox's warmth and moral center, his well-placed idiosyncrasies, make him a wonderfully human protagonist -- not particularly charismatic (at this juncture, at any rate), his appeal lies in his unabashed, straightforward sincerity and unflagging loyalty to those individuals and causes closest to his heart.

Compared to Lenox, the other characters populating his world are rather colorless, with only hints of promise and greater depth beneath the barest of hints granted on the page. McConnell, the tortured Scottish doctor and Lenox's forensic expert of choice, has a tantalizing backstory that is only hinted at. One hopes that in subsequent volumes of the series Finch explores McConnell's character and marriage to his polar opposite -- the vivacious Toto, a leading light in Lenox's social circle. Graham, Lenox's indefatigable butler, has a flair for investigative work and an unexpectedly close past with his employer, but his character remains frustratingly just out of reach, solely defined by his loyalty with the impetus for such left undefined. And while there is the promise of romance between Lenox and his long-time friend Lady Jane, sadly she is a cookie-cutter, colorless presence -- supposedly much in-demand socially, I was left with no idea why -- Lenox likes her and thinks she's pretty, but that one-sided, shallow perspective does not a compelling relationship make.

Finch possesses a promising flair for bringing late 18th-century London to life, from the rich comforts of Lenox's home to the apothecaries and slums he visits as part of his investigation. Plot-wise, the storyline could use some finesse -- Lenox spends a great deal of time mulling over this clue or that development, which makes for a pleasant, leisurely-paced read as he is such a likeable fellow. But the text suffers from an inordinate amount of "info-dumping," a good portion of the final quarter of the novel devoted to Lenox recapping the case and his suddenly successful deductions. With more showing versus telling, and greater attention paid to character development beyond Lenox and a more tightly-plotted story, the pieces are in place for an enjoyable series -- and seeing that this novel is Finch's debut, I have hopes that subsequent outings show greater polish. A Beautiful Blue Death is a pleasant, light-weight diversion, sure to appeal to fans of Wimsey or Poirot. Though the mechanics of Finch's debut mystery may be quickly forgotten, the warmth, humor, and promise contained within the character of Lenox marks this as a the introduction of a memorable gentleman sleuth with whom I look forward to whiling away many more lazy afternoons.(less)

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Oct 22, 2011 Gertie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I enjoyed the mystery very much but I found myself distracted by the historical errors and the constant back stories of every single character who comes into contact with Charles Lenox.

I prefer to have bits and pieces a character's history with the main character revealed as it relates to the story instead of dumping several paragraphs at time without them being relevant to what's currently going on.

For instance on page 121:

With this report, Graham's role in the case was at all probability at an

...more

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Jan 13, 2011 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery, historical-fiction

It was the cover of this book, that particular yellow and the three shelves of interestingly-shaped bottles with their lovely old labels, that made me pick it up from a pile of books someone left in the lobby of the apartment building where I live. It sat on my shelf for a few months, and then I picked it up on a chilly January night, and these were the sentences that made me decide now was the time to read it: "It was a bitterly cold late afternoon in the winter of 1865, with snow falling softl...more It was the cover of this book, that particular yellow and the three shelves of interestingly-shaped bottles with their lovely old labels, that made me pick it up from a pile of books someone left in the lobby of the apartment building where I live. It sat on my shelf for a few months, and then I picked it up on a chilly January night, and these were the sentences that made me decide now was the time to read it: "It was a bitterly cold late afternoon in the winter of 1865, with snow falling softly over the cobblestones of London. The clock had just chimed five o'clock, and darkness was dropping across the city—the gas lights were on, the shops had begun to close, and busy men filled the streets, making their way home" (1).

Charles Lenox, amateur investigator, is warming up by the fire after a long day when we first meet him. He's soon disturbed from his rest, though, by a note from his next door neighbor/close friend, Lady Jane Grey, asking him to come over. One of her former maids, Prudence Smith, has been found dead—poison— and she wants Charles to go have a look: was it suicide (there's a note), or was it murder? Charles obliges her and heads over to the crime scene, the home of Prudence's most recent employer, one George Barnard. A young Scotland Yard detective is already on the scene, and he's willing to agree with Barnard's assessment that it was suicide, but of course Lenox points out the clues and details he's missing: like, for instance, the lack of a pen for the suicide note to have been written with, despite the fact that the note looks fresh and never folded, like it was written just where it was found. So: if this is a murder—and this is a murder mystery—who killed Prue Smith, and why? In trying to figure it out, Lenox has to contend with his woefully unimaginative Scotland Yard nemesis, one Inspector Exeter, who's been pulled onto the case by Barnard after it becomes clear that the young detective who began the investigation might end up agreeing with Lenox that it isn't a suicide. He also has the imperious Barnard himself to contend with, plus the prime suspects: five guests who were staying with Barnard at the time of the crime.

I mostly like the style of this book: there is lots of tromping around in wintry weather and coming home damp and cross and making things right again with a warm fire and tea and toast, and there's sweetness and humor in Lenox's relationship with Lady Jane. Sometimes all these things combine, to great effect, as in scenes like this:

The tea came a moment later, and Jane, as she always did, served it.
"Two pieces of toast?" she asked.
"How about four?"
"Four!"
"Yes."
"A bear couldn't eat four pieces of toast!"
"A bear who had walked through London all day, and stepped in a puddle, and been betrayed by a cabdriver, very well might eat four pieces of toast." (70-71)

Sometimes, though, there's too much exposition, too much historical detail just for the sake of it, so it starts to feel like a history lesson, like when Lenox starts thinking about when the Metropolitan Police Force was organized, and how it was organized by Robert Peel, and how the police therefore were called peelers or bobbies; or when Lenox muses on gentlemen's clubs and the separation of men and women in the Victorian era: it doesn't seem like a character of that time would really be thinking those things, even an intelligent, thoughtful, detail-oriented character of that time. There are some small errors and inconsistencies, too: at one point we're told that two characters are talking just after six in the evening, but then a few pages later, though the plot has been moving sequentially forward, we're told that it was almost six when they finished talking. At another point, Cleopatra's Needle is mentioned—as someone else whose review I read on Goodreads noted, Cleopatra's Needle wasn't even in London in 1865. Even so, this book was a pleasing read, good enough that I might seek out its sequels (it's the first in a series), and pretty much exactly what I was in the mood for right now: a wintry book to curl up with on wintry nights.(less)

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Nov 14, 2011 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: what-i-read-in-2011

How did the editor not catch a major error like how long the maid had been in her new job? According to two characters, she's been there for 3 months, while another, who had met her at the new place of employment, had known her for almost a year. More problematically, the characters are 21st century morals and ethics in the mid-19th century. And how does a man wear a dinner jacket to the biggest event of the London season in 1865? And last, how, after making a big deal at the beginning of the bo...more

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Dec 18, 2010 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Charles Lenox, the younger son of a baronet, is the consummate Victorian gentleman sleuth. He is an amateur Roman historian and armchair explorer, the library of his Mayfair townhouse is stocked with Lucretius, histories of Persia, and whatnot, and he enjoys a cozy, lifelong friendship with the attractive young widow next door, Lady Jane Grey. He has a lot more wit than bumbling Bertie Wooster but his butler, Graham, is as dependable as Jeeves. On one particularly nasty winter afternoon, Lady Ja...more Charles Lenox, the younger son of a baronet, is the consummate Victorian gentleman sleuth. He is an amateur Roman historian and armchair explorer, the library of his Mayfair townhouse is stocked with Lucretius, histories of Persia, and whatnot, and he enjoys a cozy, lifelong friendship with the attractive young widow next door, Lady Jane Grey. He has a lot more wit than bumbling Bertie Wooster but his butler, Graham, is as dependable as Jeeves. On one particularly nasty winter afternoon, Lady Jane begs Lenox to look into the suspicious death of her former servant, the alluring Prudence Smith. Prudence has been murdered with a rare poison, her death staged to look like suicide. Her employer's grand home is full of suspects and secrets but not of motives...until another murder is committed. Lurking on the periphery of Scotland Yard's investigation, Lenox must explore the chambers of Parliament, the gentlemen's clubs on Pall Mall, the shops of back-alley apothecaries, and the seamy pubs and gang hangouts of the waterfront to sort out an increasingly complex and baffling web of intrigue.

I am clearly in the middle of a Victorian Cozies craze, and A Beautiful Blue Death did not disappoint. Lenox is an engaging and endearing hero. His displays of deductive reasoning are reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, but while Holmes is so clearly exceptional--above the material and emotional cares of this world--Lenox is an everyman, devoted to his family and friends and in abject horror of snow in his woefully inadequate boots. "What bliss was there to compare to a warm fire, fresh socks, and buttered toast on a cold day! Ah, and here was his tea..." Indeed, a man after my own heart. I wish he was real and a friend of mine. The mystery was deftly plotted and well-paced. While it wasn't at all predictable it was easy enough to follow. Finch's command of British period language is commendable and much appreciated after Tasha Alexander's many anachronisms. Along with Graham's indispensablity, Finch's prose and inclusion of a pair of cousins named Claude and Eustace put me greatly in mind of P.G. Wodehouse.

In fact, I think that Conan Doyle meets Wodehouse is probably the best descriptor I can come up with. I'll definitely be reading the other books in the series. Sorry, dissertation...(less)

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Apr 07, 2010 Rachelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Do you ever crave a good mystery? I think I know why some of them are called cozies…because they make you want to sit with a nice cup of tea by a fire, with a kitty or two on your lap…and get lost in the intriguing ‘who dunnit’. A Beautiful Blue Death, the first in the Charles Lenox series, is just such a book. The story is told from the perspective of wealthy Charles Lenox, a Victorian gentleman, who happens to dabble in solving crimes. The plot centers around a tad confusing murder mystery, in...more

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Nov 23, 2010 Scilla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this first Charles Lennox book, Lady Jane asks Charles to investigate the apparent poison suicide of Jane's former servant, Prudence Smith. Prudence had left Lady Jane's to go the home of George Barnard where her fiance was working as a footman. Charles immediately notes that Barnard is lying to him and soon realizes that Prudence did not commit suicide. Charles works with his doctor friend, Thomas McConnell, his butler, Graham, and his brother Sir Edmund and Inspector Exeter to solve the mur...more

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About Charles Finch

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

My name is Charles Finch - welcome! I'm the author of the Charles Lenox series of historical mysteries, starting with A BEAUTIFUL BLUE DEATH and extending through, most recently, A DEATH IN THE SMALL HOURS. They're all set in Victorian London, and have been translated into...more

More about Charles Finch...

Books by Charles Finch

The September Society (Charles Lenox Mysteries, #2)

The Fleet Street Murders (Charles Lenox Mysteries, #3)

A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries, #4)

A Burial at Sea (Charles Lenox Mysteries #5)

A Death in the Small Hours (Charles Lenox Mysteries, #6)

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“‎He often envied people who hadn't read his favourite books. They had such happiness before them.” — 21 people liked it

“Her strength was in the integrity of her actions; she never compromised what she believed she ought to do.” — 14 people liked it

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A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1)

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