A review by kaliobooks
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch

3.0

Charles Lenox is a gentleman of the highest class. Aristocratic birth and old money allow him to live a life of leisure in one of London’s best neighborhoods. For Lenox, leisure means sipping tea in front of a cozy fire, studying Roman antiquities, and—and this is what separates our Charles Lenox from the other rich but dull members of high society—solving mysteries. Lenox is an amateur detective; his wealth allows him to take pleasure in solving the crime rather than in getting paid to do so. He attracts people from the poor lower classes and, because of his status as a gentleman, the aristocracy trusts him to solve their mysteries as well. So when Lenox’s neighbor and close friend Lady Jane Grey learns that her former maid has committed suicide, she asks Lenox to investigate. The maid, Prue Smith, was poisoned, and Lenox quickly deduces that it’s murder. The poison is rare, Prue’s master George Barnard is the Director of the Royal Mint, and there’s a house full of guests who make excellent suspects. It’s a worthy mystery, but its first-time author Charles Finch’s finely-drawn portrait of the life and times of Lenox that will keep readers turning the pages. Lenox is a sleuth of the finest order and Finch gifts him with a complex character and a fully realized history. Lenox has a couple of unconventional relationships in an age where rigid class and gender roles keep gentlefolk separate from their servants and men separate from women that add complexity and charm to the already engaging story, one a sincere friendship with his butler Graham and the other a cozy camaraderie with Lady Jane. With precise writing and Victorian atmosphere a-plenty, this is a true-blue mystery series in the making. An Agatha Award nominee in the tradition of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, A Beautiful Blue Death is a quality whodunit to be savored slowly, preferably in front of a roaring fire with a hot cup of tea.