"The fateful note came just as Lenox was settling into his armchair after a long, tiresome day in the city."

On a recommendation from the local library blog, I just finished reading Charles Finch's A Beautiful Blue Death. Charles Lenox is a Victorian nobleman who does detective work as a hobby. He is successful enough at what he does to "assist" the police and have them take credit for a job well done. His next-door neighbor and life-long friend, the widow Lady Jane Grey, sets him on the trail to find the murderer of a former maid of her employ. As he investigates the murder, a larger conspiracy begins to unfold and Lenox enlists the help of a chemist, a botanist, his butler, Graham, and his Parliamentarian brother, among other people. The "beautiful blue" of the title is the type of poison responsible for the death of the maid.

This was not a very suspenseful mystery but it was smart and Charles Lenox and his friends and family are very likeable characters. I will definitely read the second book in this series, September Society. There is a hint of a romance brewing that I need to spy on a bit more as well!

Yearning for a life of leisure and a little mystery,
K


Buy A Beautiful Blue Death on Amazon or find it at your local library.