Turning Points

THE LAST PASSENGER
Charles Lenox # 13
Charles Finch
Minotaur Books
February 18, 2020


It's 1855 London, and a young Charles Lenox is establishing his reputation as a private detective in London. From time to time, he gets a summons from Scotland Yard to consult on a case. This time he is called to Paddington Station to look at a crime scene. A passenger, a young man, has been found in a first-class carriage, brutally slain. The young man is well-dressed but has no identification, and the conductor claims no knowledge of the passenger. The first order of business is to find out who he is. When Lenox and his indispensable valet, Graham, learn who he is, they are plunged into the world of Abolitionists, white supremacists in England, and the ongoing slave trade to America. The US government is also very interested in this particular young man's fate. No one, however, is quite who he seems to be in this story, and many members of the aristocracy are involved.

I have much enjoyed the previous two books in the Charles Lenox series, The Woman in the Water and The Vanishing Man. They have examined the early life of Charles Lenox, his uncertainty about balancing his work and his place in society. Many people have "cut" him for engaging in "trade." Thankfully, none of those people are in Lenox's family. His mother, however, is concerned for him and wants him to find a wife who will support him and avert loneliness. She enlists Lady Jane, Lenox's neighbor and childhood friend in the effort. Charles thinks he has found her until his heart is broken. Charles also sees more of the duplicity and callousness of the upper classes than ever before. 

This is a solid entry in the long-running Charles Lenox series. As always, I particularly enjoy the little fascinating facts that Charles Finch drops, seemingly effortlessly, into the text. This time, he covers the state of politics in America, embroiled in the issue of slavery. My favorite this time is that Queen Victoria had a black African god-daughter. Who knew? Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 4 Stars