I was not aware of the Charles Lenox series until I received the netgalley of this book. Thankfully, I am now able to delve into the rich trove of mysteries. In Victorian London, Charles Lenox, a gentleman, has chosen to pursue the ungentlemanly occupation of detective. The historical detail and character development are very fine. The author kept me guessing until the end. I am planning to read all of the works in this series.

For me I enjoyed the main character, Charles Lenox. He was very clever. I liked this book, I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. It was extremely tedious for me though. It was also very odd that the wealthy and their servants were so close and friendly. That would not have been the case back in the 1800's. Just some oddities about the book.

I read other books in this series and was happy to read this one as it's the first.
I enjoyed it even if I found it a bit less gripping that the further installment.
It's a good story, the characters are interesting and I think it's a good introduction to the series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A Beautiful Blue Death turns out to be nothing of the sort. Lovely housemaid Prudence Smith has been found murdered with the rare poison bella indigo. To confuse matters further, a small bottle of arsenic is left on the bedside table, even though this is not what killed her. Could it be a strange case of suicide? These are all matters that require the investigative skills of Charles Lenox, second son (therefore untitled) but still wealthy enough to pursue his interests and hobbies without having to worry about making a living. Charles is asked to investigate the death by his childhood friend and current neighbor the widow Lady Jane Grey. Prudence has only left Lady Jane's house to take up another job in a house where her fiancé is also employed. So, if Prudence's death is indeed a murder, how did she manage to make a deadly enemy so soon in her new place of employment?

Charles has just successfully solved a forgery case that had baffled his nemesis, the Inspector Exeter of Scotland Yard. Sadly, it doesn't take much to baffle Exeter, but he still insists that Charles should stay out of his cases and absolutely avoid meddling in any ongoing investigations. Still, Charles agrees to help Lady Jane find out what happened to her former employee.

Plenty of suspects soon emerge at the new house where Prudence was working. The man who owned the house, George Barnard, is the director of the Royal Mint. He also happens to have many houseguests who all come under suspicion: other mint/government employees, impoverished relatives, and of course, numerous servants.

Charles is assisted in his inquiries by many eager would-be detectives: his elder brother Edmund, his butler Graham, Lady Jane's cousin Toto and her husband the alcoholic Dr. Thomas McConnell, Prudence's distraught fiancé, and other assorted helpers from London's busy streets. While trying to find a motive for the murder of the maid, Charles must traverse London in shoddy boots, pour over the latest travel/historical books and maps accommodating booksellers deliver to his home daily, and keep up his social schedule of visits, balls, and teas. It's all very exhausting!

While the beginning of the book was a bit difficult to follow, due to the many characters that were introduced, I was eventually able to keep track of them and I began to enjoy trying to figure out who the guilty party was. Although most of the characters go about their upper-class lives without much thought for "how the other half lives," there were occasional twinges of social conscience, such as when some shady characters lead the shadowing Graham into "the Rookery" slum and the conditions are very shocking for him.

This book is the first in the Charles Lenox mystery series, which is now up to 12 books. I look forward to returning to Victorian London to see what new adventures he finds!

Being the first book in the series, it was slow and the plot plain. The description of the characters was not done uniformly. The later books are an improvement.

A Beautiful Blue Death
Charles Finch

I loved reading this book!

The setting is in the mid 1860’s England and following an amateur detective named Charles Lenox. Feeling the Sherlock Holmes vibe and certainly this hooked me so right from the start!

This is a part of the series, but I did enjoy this very much as a stand alone. I will definitely be enjoying the rest and look forward to reading them all.

Fantastic Victorian murder mystery well done.

Downton Abbey series has ended, the movie has now come and gone. What to do? Read Charles Finch!! Begin with A Beautiful Blue Death and you will understand why the Charles Lenox series is so loved.

No. I didn't like the way the characters were portrayed, how it wanted to be and sound British but it failed so badly! I was looking for an intense, gripping mystery, but I got a list of all that I didn't like about it.

I'm not going to lie I really struggled with this book and if I hadn't gotten the audiobook from my library I don't think I would have made it through it.

Not only is this book rather dry, it is also full of Americanism and the geography of the London in this book just doesn't make sense in my opinion. I found myself getting confused multiple times because of this. Also the mystery itself was very easy to figure out, I think I had everything all put together quite awhile before the main character did.

I didn't really care for the main character or his friends and at times I found them to all be rather annoying. I know part of this is just because it's Victorian times and things had to be very formal. But I also think it comes back to the Americanism making things seem out of sorts I guess you would say.

I am glad I did read till the end as I did learn some about the university and a did like a few of the minor characters. I also realized while listening to this, that anymore I prefer to read Victorian era books from the servants or lower class point of view.

This book sadly just not ended up being for me, but I do know some people would really love this.

This was a very enjoyable, light but still interesting read. I really enjoyed the descriptions of London, as I've never been there myself but it's a place I've always wanted to visit. There was enough description to make you feel like you're there, but not so much as to make it boring. The book definitely was not boring. Between the characters, setting, and mystery, it was a quite interesting read and I'd definitely recommend it.

Opening line:

"Charles Lenox sat in the study of his town house in Hampden Lane--that small, shop-lined street just off Grosvenor Place where he had passed most of his adult life--and sifted through the papers that had accumulated upon his desk, as they would, inevitably, when one became a member of Parliament. "

I really quite enjoyed my first foray into the Charles Lenox Mysteries.
Charles was an interesting character and fun to read as he solved the mystery. He's likable and maybe too good. All of the characters had their own personality and part to play in the story. I hope many of them make their way back into the next books (I liked Lady Jane the best!).
I enjoyed the mystery though I admit I had no idea who would be the killer. I'm usually good at picking up clues in mysteries but I felt like I didn't read any;I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.
Also, I skimmed a bit in the middle. I felt the story line got a bit old and weighed down.

Thanks to netgalley for the early read!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review A BEAUTIFUL BLUE DEATH by Charles Finch. Unfortunately, due to a chronic neurological condition and several medical emergencies over the past year I've been unable to read or review this book in a timely manner. I deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused.

VERDICT: Butlers and rich employers mix in this mystery steeped in 19th century London. To read near your fireplace.

I don’t think this could be a spoiler, so I’m jumping in by saying how neat it was when I realized this was not about a beautiful death that was blue, but about a death by beautiful blue! Really cool!
You will of course have to read the book to understand what I’m talking about.
Charles Lenox, a private investigator and bachelor in his forties, enjoys spending some cozy time with his books and his pipe near the fire. By a cold Winter day in 1865, he receives a note from Lady Grey, a friend and neighbor. To please her, he accepts to investigate the death of Prudence, a former maid of hers.
He is helped by his butler Graham and a friend doctor Thomas, while Inspector Exeter from the Yard is his rival. How will Lenox see through the puzzling elements surrounding Prudence’s death and the many guests at her employer’s place, where her body was found?
I found the plot a bit complicated, but there were great red herrings and a nice twist when something happened to the main suspect…
I appreciated some interesting background facts, like the beginning of the fingerprint technique.
There were also fascinating descriptions of very poor and dangerous neighborhoods of London at the time, in contrast with the clubs where the rich and politically important regularly meet.
The author took great care in describing each character, but I think it was sometimes unnecessary and not helping at all with the story, for instance for with life of the doctor. But as this is the first volume of a series (10 published so far), these details could possibly be relevant to further volumes.