Charles Lenox! Always a pleasure!
The Last Passenger (Charles Lenox Mysteries #0.3)
by Charles Finch
The third and final of the prequels about the eccentric society detective, Charles Lenox's pulling together more of his background as a beginning detective. The disdain from many of the upper one thousand, his relationship with Scotland Yard, the development of his inquiry techniques, and his family and friends.
A male body is found in a train at Paddington Station. The 449 from Manchester.
No clues as to who the man was. Even the tags had been cut from his clothing.
This case will take Charles from undesirable denizens of London to those placed in the highest in the land.
And just when Charles thinks the case is solved a Mr Winston Cobb, a detective and an American Federal Marshal, turns up at his door. Together they come to realize that the resolution of the case is a double bind, a smokescreen, and their enquiries will have to go back to the beginning. It is indeed a case with a dark soul that will haunt Charles.
On the social front Charle's mother has decided that he needs a helpmate. She enlists Lady Jane aid to introduce him to some interesting young women. One stands out for Charles--Kitty Ashcroft. But even this relationship has a mystery hanging over it.
I think what cinched this story for me as a five star read was meeting Lady Jane's husband. Lord Deere becomes Charles' chess partner and what a lovely, sincere man he is. (Well naturally, we know Lady Jane to be a woman of exquisite sensibilities.) It is only later that Charles is struck by the friendship offered to him by Deere, or Grey as he's asked Charles to call him. Grey was a soldier first and foremost. His going to India he saw as his duty and I have vey dark thoughts about the man he was asked replace, it seems on a pretext. I must admit to shedding a tear where Deere is concerned.
A wonderfully rigorous mystery set in 1855 England that encompasses the gambit of racial discrimination and slavery. Yet it's more the personal side of this tale that called to me. A special addition to the Charles Lenox arc!
A Minotaur Books ARC via NetGalley
*****
by Charles Finch
A male body is found in a train at Paddington Station. The 449 from Manchester.
No clues as to who the man was. Even the tags had been cut from his clothing.
This case will take Charles from undesirable denizens of London to those placed in the highest in the land.
And just when Charles thinks the case is solved a Mr Winston Cobb, a detective and an American Federal Marshal, turns up at his door. Together they come to realize that the resolution of the case is a double bind, a smokescreen, and their enquiries will have to go back to the beginning. It is indeed a case with a dark soul that will haunt Charles.
On the social front Charle's mother has decided that he needs a helpmate. She enlists Lady Jane aid to introduce him to some interesting young women. One stands out for Charles--Kitty Ashcroft. But even this relationship has a mystery hanging over it.
I think what cinched this story for me as a five star read was meeting Lady Jane's husband. Lord Deere becomes Charles' chess partner and what a lovely, sincere man he is. (Well naturally, we know Lady Jane to be a woman of exquisite sensibilities.) It is only later that Charles is struck by the friendship offered to him by Deere, or Grey as he's asked Charles to call him. Grey was a soldier first and foremost. His going to India he saw as his duty and I have vey dark thoughts about the man he was asked replace, it seems on a pretext. I must admit to shedding a tear where Deere is concerned.
A wonderfully rigorous mystery set in 1855 England that encompasses the gambit of racial discrimination and slavery. Yet it's more the personal side of this tale that called to me. A special addition to the Charles Lenox arc!
A Minotaur Books ARC via NetGalley
*****
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