AN OLD BETRAYAL (Charles Lenox Mysteries #7)
Charles Finch
November 2012
Minotaur Books
It's a Spring morning in 1875 London and Charles Lenox is on an errand for his friend, Dallington, Charles' apprentice in the detection business, who has opened his own successful agency. However, Dallington is ill and asks Lenox to meet with a prospective client in a railway cafe. This prospective client has sent a very cryptic note and Charles does not know whether the client is a male or a female. His lack of knowledge leads to his missing the client, to the death of a reclusive country squire and a chase across London from the slums to the highest reaches of imperial power. In the course of the investigation Charles uncovers a plot generations in the making.
The Charles Lenox Mysteries have been a favorite of mine since the first in the series, A Beautiful Blue Death. Lenox is a very attractive character;a real Victorian gentleman with a social conscience and now a doting papa to his new daughter, Sophie. His social conscience has led him away from detection into Parliament. But he is finding Parliament very demanding of his time with his family and not as satisfying as he thought it might be. So the chance to jump into an intriguing and important investigation is just what he has been looking for, even though he did not realize it. I am glad to see Charles so fully engaged in an investigation again.
Charles Finch obviously does extensive research into the era and gets into the "nuts and bolts" of Victorian society and government. These factual gems are seamlessly woven into the narrative, not just dumped. I enjoyed An Old Betrayal greatly and look forward to the next in the series.
RATING- 4 Stars
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