Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
A compelling mystery with a great setting. I got cold just reading about the snow and ice. I think Finch does a great job with setting and natural British conversation.
I picked this up at the last book swap I hosted and I'm loving it! Just my type of book, loads of detail, great characters, a little mystery! Lovely. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.
More like a 3.5. Enjoyable characters and good mystery.
I can't decide if Lenox is supposed to be a bumbling detective or a brilliant detective. The author keeps telling me he's brilliant, but then he really doesn't do anything to solve the case. He just sort of muddles around and asks people if they did it.
Also, there are so many things that throw me off in terms of world-building: Lenox and Lady Jane having no expectation of propriety for their servants? Lack of manners/propriety in nearly everyone? EVERYONE is drinking coffee? The times the author slips into decidedly modern (American) language? That Claude felt he "loved" a servant he was having a dalliance so much that he would agree to silence her in part out of jealousy? How Dr. McConnell, a drunk, disgraced doctor, uses such modern methods of criminology?
Not a terrible read, but just not for me.
Spoiler
Also, there are so many things that throw me off in terms of world-building: Lenox and Lady Jane having no expectation of propriety for their servants? Lack of manners/propriety in nearly everyone? EVERYONE is drinking coffee? The times the author slips into decidedly modern (American) language? That Claude felt he "loved" a servant he was having a dalliance so much that he would agree to silence her in part out of jealousy? How Dr. McConnell, a drunk, disgraced doctor, uses such modern methods of criminology?
Not a terrible read, but just not for me.
This is sort of a DNF for me. I read the book for a few days until I was bored to death and read the ending. I’d already figured out who did it…just needed the confirmation of the last two or three chapters. In London during the Victorian era, an upstairs maid is killed by ingesting poison. Charles Lenox is asked to solve the crime by his dear friend Lady Jane. He’s up to the task.
Oh, bummer. I was so happy with this book for a long time. It is a quintessential cozy mystery, which I like, in a historic British (London) settings, which I love, a bit of romance - everything was there to enjoy this story.
But then...
At about 85 percent (or even earlier) of the novel Lenox, the aristocrat-come-to-detective-for-fun solves the mystery. When I realized this had happened so far from the end I got bad feelings: what on earth would be the remainder several chapters about? Vaguely I was hoping there'd be some twist, or some new development that changes the flow of events... But nothing that kind occurred and my worst suspicions came true: the book went on and on sloppily and completely aimlessly. So much so that in the few last chapters I honestly did not even try to pay attention, just waited to finally end it.
I cannot be more disappointed and of course frustrated, mainly because I sincerely and immensely enjoyed the mystery part up to the solution; I thought I finally found a new series I could immerse myself into for pure comfort reading.
Why on earth did Mr. Finch add that big, empty chunk? No clue. Now that IS the real mystery to me.
But then...
At about 85 percent (or even earlier) of the novel Lenox, the aristocrat-come-to-detective-for-fun solves the mystery. When I realized this had happened so far from the end I got bad feelings: what on earth would be the remainder several chapters about? Vaguely I was hoping there'd be some twist, or some new development that changes the flow of events... But nothing that kind occurred and my worst suspicions came true: the book went on and on sloppily and completely aimlessly. So much so that in the few last chapters I honestly did not even try to pay attention, just waited to finally end it.
I cannot be more disappointed and of course frustrated, mainly because I sincerely and immensely enjoyed the mystery part up to the solution; I thought I finally found a new series I could immerse myself into for pure comfort reading.
Why on earth did Mr. Finch add that big, empty chunk? No clue. Now that IS the real mystery to me.
The perfect English mystery. A cross between Sherlock Holmes and P.G. Wodehouse books. I enjoyed spending time in Charles Lenox's world and I cannot wait to go back.
If you’re not a mystery fan, I wouldn’t bother picking this one up, but if you do enjoy mysteries, particularly historical ones, this is enjoyable. There’s a twist at the end that caught me a little off guard, but made total sense once I thought about it. It’s a comfortable read, at least for me, the type of mystery I like and know, in a general way, what to expect.
Simply a perfect mystery!
Excellent character development without unnecessary “romance” added.
I look forward to the rest of the series even if Lady Jane and Lennox *do* become involved because that’s not the main driver of the storyline or their characters.
Excellent character development without unnecessary “romance” added.
I look forward to the rest of the series even if Lady Jane and Lennox *do* become involved because that’s not the main driver of the storyline or their characters.