Every year, you blog readers want a mystery category in our yearly Reading Challenge. I enjoy a good mystery, but I’m picky about which ones I’ll read. No thrillers for me or gratuitous violence. What I can handle and enjoy is on the range of Agatha Christie’s Poirot or the wonderful series Maisie Dobbs. Well, thanks to a blog reader from Creative Arts Camp for putting me on to mystery author Charles Finch, and his charmingly faithful detective, Charles Lenox.
Set in early Victorian London, this would be perfect material for a costume drama Masterpiece Mystery. It was intelligent but not simplistic, engagingly written (while not authentically atmospheric), and both perceptive and sweet in places. The puzzle pieces were varied and abundant, and it kept my interest without being frenetic or pedantic, obvious or gruesome. Some people may need more suspense, but a decent, kind-hearted, and thorough armchair sleuth, is perfect for my taste in a who-done-it read.
I must admit I don’t like the title, beautiful being the wrong word here. But otherwise, I’d give A Beautiful Blue Death 5 stars for striking just the right note for my taste of a good mystery read. Above you can see the library version I read, while last below is a photo of the new paperback version. I look forward to reading the rest by this author.
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4 Comments
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Nice review, Polly. This series gets better and better as you get to know Charles. Several of the most recent have gone back to his early days of teaching himself how to be a detective, and working his first cases. Enjoy!
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Author
Thanks for the recommendation!
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Thanks for the recommendation. Sounds like my type of mystery novel, especially since it gets a good review by my favorite author Louise Penny.
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