Charles Finch’s well-researched debut, set in mid-Victorian London, introduces gentleman detective Charles Lennox, whose ambitious travel plans are continually disrupted by crimes in need of investigation. In A Beautiful Blue Death neighbor and friend Lady Jane Grey requests his assistance when her former maid, now working for the director of the Royal Mint, is murdered. Lennox quickly determines that the crime is more complicated than it initially seems and things only get worse when a second murder occurs. Full of period detail and a wonderful cast of secondary characters, this intricate and well-written novel will leave any lover of historical mysteries eager to reach for Lennox’s next case.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
