A real triumph, oh, how completely dazzling! I read this in one sitting, through breakfast and lunch, in the feverish state that only unputdownable books can conjure up. An absolute treat.

Charles Lenox, acclaimed Victorian detective, would like to spend more time with his family - his lovely wife Jane, his sparkling daughter Sophia and his new baby, Clara, but those plans of domestic bliss are thwarted when Benjamin Disraeli (amazing portrayal of a rather forceful but charming PM) himself asks him to pay a visit to America, as a service to the Queen. There, Charles is quickly thrown into Newport's height of splendour where he meets old and new money and navigates an upper crust distraught by the murder of its most beautiful débutante, Lily Allingham.

I can't tell you how much I loved An Extravagant Death. It has everything this series does best. But first, if you're reading this - please don't pick up this book as a starting point if you haven't read the others. You can read books out of order sometimes in a series and it hardly matters but you can't do that here. It will spoil too many things and a lot of elements (secondary characters and Lenox's character arc) will make zero sense to you.

1/ I read a lot about Victorian England and this, I can say with absolute certainty, is the greatest series when it comes to learning about that time. This book is no exception. The research is excellent and it's not just broad strokes - intricate, small, tiny details (like the kind of taps you'd find in one of Lady Astor's many bathrooms, hot, cold, and salted, if you care to know). The kind of detail like knowing what fabric a piece of clothing is made of is not just here as a nod to history, it genuinely brings History to life. It's just gorgeous.

2/ OH MY GOD GILDED AGE NEWPORT. The abundance of riches in this book is completely over-the-top insane, I was in HEAVEN. If you're looking for description of all the details of extravagant parties and a catalogue of what money can buy - look no further. Lenox has to infiltrate the circle of millionaires of the nineteenth century and most of the book is spent with Charles having to pick up his jaw from the floor and I was in much the same state! I'm completely obsessed now. It's one thing to have characters wear expensive jewellery, it's quite another when our hero realises the very ballroom he's in carries no less than six paintings by Rubens. Yet throughout the book, it was completely like Lenox to see both the glamour and its problems, what makes America attractive, and its pitfalls, this was done so well and the social commentary is top-notch as usual. The comparisons with England at the same time are SO interesting. I'm completely obsessed now and must read everything I can about the the Knickerbockers and the arrival of new money, the Vanderbilts, the Astors and of course those glorious mansions (they call them cottages, a choice of vocabulary that's greatly commented upon in the book!). This is the world of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers and Lisa Kleypas's Lillian and Daisy in The Wallflowers.

3/ Yes, there's a murder but this book is SO COSY. Every single dish is described (and let me tell you, there are many, it's completely glorious), there are scenes that last several pages that are written solely for Lenox to sit in his study and just enjoy a meal, picking up a cooing baby, scenes where he and Dallington stay at a club and are brought food IN THE LIBRARY because in clubs you can stay ALL DAY if you want to, a scene all about the sheer bliss that are dolphins. What I mean is - it's a WORLD, not just an investigation, and Charles Finch is incredible at making you feel like you're right there with the characters through tiny details that make them seem so human and just full of the need to just be content (when Lenox goes to America, he carries a small list of all the states and ticks every one once he's seen them for example, it's just lovely and something I can totally picture myself doing in the future!)

4/ The humour of this book is just perfect. Not PG Wodehouse stitches but genuine chuckles. It's truly lovely. Even though there's an investigation going on, this tells you that, somehow, you're safe. Levity brings down the tension considerably so you can really enjoy the plot. At some point, there's a clear reference to a Jane Austen creation that was such good insight into a new character it had me laugh and laugh. This humour comes with infinite pearls of wisdom, too, about privilege, about the status of women, remarks which speak to how great a social study this actually is - fear not, you're in good hands.

5/ Which brings me to the writing. Excellent and FREQUENTLY gorgeous. Where else will you find a home compared to a 'a ship built to sail to the stars' (this one made me sigh, I reread it several times).

6/ The gallery of characters is so well-drawn. I cared for each and every single one of them and had no trouble remembering who was who. Charles meets a past flame, Kitty, and she was easily my favourite one, she'd had a remarkable journey since we last saw her and their scenes showed how two ex lovers can interact with all the nostalgia, longing, but also, ultimately peace and acceptance, that is so true in real life. I was deeply moved. We also meet Disraeli, mentioned previously, and Caroline Astor and both come with the aura you associate with Historical Figures and leave a lasting impression.

7/ The plot itself was easy to follow yet full of twists - I didn't guess the culprit and their motives came as a complete SHOCK. The ending is left ambiguous as well - I wonder if this is Lenox's last case (say it ain't so?). If it is, though, you'll see why.

What a beautiful, beautiful new book in this already amazing series. One of my favourites for sure. I'm left completely satisfied - the plot is wrapped, the characters I love are safe and happy for now and this left me wanting to know everything I can about this period of time. The best books do.

-

My endless thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced copy. I've read all of the Lenox books in the series and will buy a copy when it's released (HAVE YOU SEEN THIS COVER) but it's pretty special to be able to read a book almost 4 months before its publication.

An Englishman in Newport

A prepublication Big5 Plus review

Gilded Age amateur sleuth

r/suggestmeabook: I want a sedate journey through Gilded Age high society with a little murder mixed in.

Rating: G

From the publisher: London, 1878. “An Extravagant Death” finds Sir Charles Lenox traveling to Gilded Age Newport and New York to investigate the death of a beautiful socialite.

When The Favourite came out, there was a great conversation among the historical consultant and two other historians in my favorite history podcast, BBC History Extra. The point that stayed with me is that historical fiction is an attempt to translate the past for the present. To some extent, the success of any historical novel is the degree to which it successfully gaps the two.

Charles Finch has managed to capture the sedate pace of a period before cell phones and Google. The first ten chapters are part history lesson, part travelogue. As a denizen of the hurry-up present, that didn’t feel sedate; it felt slow, but in a way Louisa May Alcott doesn’t feel for me. Instead, it felt like a delay to get to the meat of the novel—ten chapters to get to the damn murder.

The book blurb doesn’t help: It makes it sound as though the protagonist has gone to the States specifically to solve the murder, but that’s not how it works at all.

Obviously a great deal of historical research has gone into the story, but sometimes the inclusion of the lovely bits feels a little forced, as is the case of the multiple mentions of “back log.” We meet historic personages and places with no bearing on the plot—which, coupled with the delay in getting to the main subject of the book, isn’t as interesting as it could be if better integrated into the mains storyline.

The subtle wit is a pleasure, though, and is well-suited to evoking Victorian England and the American Gilded Age. Once the murder mystery starts to unfold, it’s absorbing enough, although there’s nothing aside from the costume it’s wearing to distinguish it.

It’s off to me that the full blurb bothers mentioning the two children, as they, and his wife, are at best peripheral. To be fair, the novel is part of a series, so the mentions of characters as though I should care about them, when nothing in this book has created any feelings for them, could be an explanation for an assumption that cursory references suffice.

Reading it as a standalone, though, I’m not engaged enough with the characters to want to spend anymore time with them than this one book. Perhaps I would feel differently if I started at the beginning, but it’s too late for that now. This is the kind of trip down memory lane that makes the past seem tedious.

A rare misfire from Charles Finch. It almost feels unfair to call it a misfire which is why I’ve struggled with rating it. Here’s the problem: Finch has written 13 stellar Charles Lennox books and if I have to judge this latest effort against the previous 13, it falls short. I’ve consistently said that Finch is the only mystery series author (with the exception of Laurie King) who remains fresh, engaging, and always leaves me wanting more. Does this book change any of that? No, not one bit. There’s a lot of good work in this book; it’s still eminently readable. The change of pace and change of scenery are refreshing. Finch pulls off an interesting trick writing convincingly about America through the lens of an Englishman. The reader really feels that author must be an Englishman as well. A handful of times I had to remind myself that Finch is actually American. That’s no small feat, it’s a really neat trick!
The setting is off here. I know it’s fiction, but as a history buff, it’s jarring to see the historical inaccuracy. Side plots get dropped with no resolution. At least Lennox remains a well-drawn, fully lived-in character; the other characters lack development. The only other semi-realized character, who no doubt will develop further in future outings, felt a little cliched and predictable. Frankly, there’s a lot of clunky, awkward writing in this book and it just doesn’t live up to Finch’s high, high standards. For a lesser author, I probably wouldn’t care and would not offer such a stinging critique, but Finch’s books are on the top of my annual must read list. I anticipate them like clockwork. This one should have been left to cook a little longer. It just feels rushed.
Despite being super hard on this book, I am already excited for the next one. I don’t think there’s a better historical mystery series out there. This new entry isn’t bad, it just isn’t great.

I have read every book in the Charles Lenox series, and was thrilled to be able to review an advanced galley copy, thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I have to admit, I have really enjoyed the Lenox prequel books that Charles Finch has published the last few years. I have always preferred the series before the detective agency was formed, so it was nice to go back to that time, One thing I didn't like about those books was the lack of the lovely banter between Lenox and Lady Jane - that was one of my not-so-favorite things about this book as well. There is minimal Lady Jane; there is in fact minimal Graham, Edmund, and Toto and Thomas McConnell have become non-existent. I really wish Finch would include more of the McConnells in future publications. It's understandable that these beloved characters are missing however, as Lenox travels on his own to America in this new novel. I loved seeing America through Lenox's eyes. His thoughts and impressions seemed completely in line with his character, and as such were delightful. A character from the prequels makes a reappearance, and I wasn't entirely thrilled about it. Without giving anything away, there isn't anything wrong with the returning character, they just pale in comparison to someone else. The mystery in this book centers on one murder in the luxurious Newport enclave. Finch includes numerous small accurate details about Newport society at the time, but I didn't get a great feel for the characters. I had my suspicions about the murder from fairly early on, which almost never happens with a Lenox mystery. The novel is a very quick read though, and very much a page turner; Finch's wonderful writing ensures that with every book. I'm a little nervous after the ending, but I can't wait to see where things go from here. Always such a pleasure to read anything from Charles Finch!

I have not read any of the previous books in the series so I have no bias in reading this except that I geek history and this is set mainly in Newport, RI and NYC in 1878. Due to other circumstances, the very British Lenox is sent to the states without his wife and children but with astounding credentials and winds up becoming involved in a murder investigation halfway between NYC and his destination. Fortunately his assigned valet is well able to help him with the due diligence he would be unable to do quietly and that the local police are glad for his aid because the moneyed class is as intolerant of police in Newport as they are in Britain. He also has the aid of a past acquaintance as well as a new and eager one, both of whom are both moneyed and familiar with the milieu. Good sleuthing by all! I found it quite enjoyable.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

An Extravagant Death by Charles Finch -- 3 Stars
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 9781250767134

This is the first book I have read in the Charles Lenox series. It began with a lengthy description of Lenox and the facts of his past history that were the reason for him to travel to America. Reading the book out of order was fine.
The mystery was complex and the conclusion of the case was a surprise. The period and the lifestyle of the wealthy of Newport were described in great detail. The differences Lenox observed between the upper class titled of England and the very wealthy of America were interesting, as were observations of the attitude and style of those who served them.
Unfortunately, I found the pace of the story slow. I was bored by too much detail about Lenox’s life.

Reviewer: Nancy

England and America - 1878

The Charles Lenox detective agency is on a rapid rise after its latest investigation showed major corruption at Scotland Yard. The problem now is that maybe it is too popular. To return respect to Scotland Yard and not have Lenox testify live in the trial, it takes Prime Minister Disraeli to convince the detective to leave England for the next few weeks. With promises of full financial support and the Queen's Seal, Lenox agrees to sail to America. It was his wife, Lady Jane, who convinces him that it would be for the best, even though she and their two daughters will miss him.

Upon arrival in New York City, Lenox is comfortably set up in the Union Club, assigned a young valet, and has started to acquaint himself with his new environment. With the knowledge that he is representing the Queen, Lenox is welcomed into many of New York Society's most exclusive clubs. His introduction to the Knickerbockers, descendants of the original settlers from Holland, fascinates him. Society in New York wouldn't be society without Caroline Astor, who evidently rules supreme. Lenox meets a young man during a luncheon at Delmonicos, one Theodore Blaine, who professes to want to be a detective despite coming from a wealthy, well-known family. Teddy, as he is known, walks with a cane, is very intelligent, and seems to know an awful lot about Charles Lenox.

The next day, Lenox leaves New York by train for Boston, and, surprisingly, Teddy is aboard also. As they reach the state of Connecticut, the train is stopped and boarded. An imposing man hands Lenox a message from William Schermerhorn IV imploring him to come immediately to Newport, Rhode Island to investigate the murder of a young woman. Confused as to how Schermerhorn knew of him, Lenox declines, determined to head on to Boston. However, curiosity wins out and soon there is another smaller train chugging towards Newport.

By the time he arrives in Newport, Lenox had already learned that the dead girl is Lily Allingham, known for her beauty, and pursued by some of the richest young men in the area. Teddy knows her and is visibly upset by the news. Her body had been spotted by fishermen on the beach below Forty Steps, along the Cliff Walk, a spot well known to locals. Schermerhorn wants Lenox's help because he feels the local police are inept, not to mention that his son is one of the men who had been hoping to marry Lily.

Lenox finds a death scene that is obviously also a murder scene that has been trampled by the local police. Searching the area above the scene, Lenox finds an expensive flask in the grass with blood on it. Now begins the real detective work as Lenox sets about interviewing people who held the soiree that Lily had attended the night before. But Newport is a small town, and Lenox is beginning to discover that there are several possible suspects, and this investigation may prove to be more complicated than he anticipated.

Book fourteen in the Charles Lenox Mystery series, AN EXTRAVAGANT DEATH is set in the Gilded Age city of Newport (where I happen to live). Lenox is stunned at the opulence of the "cottages" that rival castles in his home country. But the mystery of Lily's death baffles him as she was well liked by all. His investigation is slow and methodical, but there is something missing, and Lenox is closing in on that.

Great descriptions of Newport and its wealthy summer inhabitants, and an even more intriguing mystery make AN EXTRAVAGANT DEATH a page turner. Don't miss this latest installment of the Charles Lenox books.

In what promises to be a breakout in Charles Finch's bestselling series, Charles Lenox travels to the New York and Newport of the dawning Gilded Age to investigate the death of a beautiful socialite. London, 1878. With faith in Scotland Yard shattered after a damning corruption investigation, Charles Lenox's detective agency is rapidly expanding. The gentleman sleuth has all the work he can handle, two children, and an intriguing new murder case. This series has been around for several years but I think this outing really showcases Lenox at the top of his game. Traveling to America he doesn't seem to lose any of his tenacity and ability to see through evil. The depiction of this era and locale is brilliant and the plot was full of red herrings and lots of twists and turns. I can't wait for the next in the series. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Thoroughly enjoyable Detective Lenox novel, set in 1879 New York and Newport. I loved the period details and the mysterious twists and turns and very surprising ending. Can't wait to read what comes next!

I have loved Charles Finch's Lenox mysteries since I read the first one some time ago. But this newest addition to the series is so different in tone and so beautifully written. It presents London Detective Charles Lenox at the top of his game, recognized even across the Atlantic for his amazing crime solving abilities. His London agency, which scrambled to get business early on, is now perking merrily along with more than they can handle. And the author, Charles Finch, is at the top of his game also.
Lenox is at a watershed moment: he is fifty years old with a wife and two daughters. For a man of the Victorian era with much lower life expectancy than now, he is already in a position where he is looking back on his life and sorting through his triumphs and regrets.
Then, Prime Minister Disraeli sends him on a mission to America, a land he has often wanted to see. While there, he finds himself in Newport, Rhode Island among the old and new rich in their "cottages" that dwarf the landscape. It is the time of the Astors and the Vanderbilts, an era so different from the knighted and landed families Lenox knew in England. As he moves between the various social events and meets new people who know of his reputation, he ruminates on the Gilded Age in America and the values of the very rich. [I've been to Newport and imagined the social world of these Gilded Age inhabitants in their summer retreat from New York City.]
Then a murder occurs and Lenox is called in to help solve it. A beautiful girl in the blush of youth has been found dead. As Lenox applies his detective skills in a new and unfamiliar landscape, he begins to question so much that has been important to him. Which of these wealthy New Yorkers did the unbelievable and murdered one of their own? An event involving Lenox further moves him to think about his wife, family and his life so far.
I was impressed with how clearly Charles Finch knows his creation, Detective Lenox. He seems to effortlessly inhabit the body and soul of this character as never before. There is, as one reviewer said, a melancholy tone to this book that wasn't apparent in earlier stories. It seemed appropriate. I loved the lyrical style of the author, the ease with which he described the time period, and the familiar characters we have come to love. Great job, Mr. Finch! Thanks to St. Martin's and NetGalley for letting me read this advanced copy.

This is a little unusual for a Charles Lenox novel, he ends up in America at the request of the British Prime Minister. Disraeli wants Lenox out of the country during a trial involving officers of Scotland Yard.

Giving in to his early dreams of travel, Lenox eventually accedes to the P.M.'s request and travels to New York.

After a short stay in N.Y., Lenox is to travel to meet some colleagues in Boston, accompanied by Teddy Blaine, a young man from one of the wealthiest families in America who is interested in becoming a detective. The journey is interrupted when the train is stopped and Lenox is handed a letter pleading with him to come to New Port, R.I. (then as now, the summer homes of the ultra rich) to solve the murder of a young debutante.

In New Port, Lenox goes about interviewing folks from all spectrums of society, from Vanderbilts to kitchen staff with the occasional presence of Teddy Blaine, in his attempts to solve the murder. Some of his thoughts are revealed in the letters he writes to his wife Lady Jane, his brother Edmund, and his close friend Graham.

As always, Charles Finch reveals segments of Victorian society, but this outing reveals elements of the American Gilded Age, that time between the end of the Civil War and before the turn of the century. The opulence, the fantastic wealth, the summer "cottages" with 70 to 100+ rooms (and all of the servants required to maintain them) is touched on as Lennox observes New Port's stunning affluence.

In addition to the mystery plot, I learned the origin of the word "shrapnel" and the phrase "heard it through the grapevine." Lt. Henry Shrapnel invented an artillery shell that fragmented in 1803 and the Grapevine Tavern in N.Y. was a place where Union officers and Confederate spies mingled during the Civil War. Thus, the source of news, information, gossip, and rumors was through the Grapevine.

There was also a brief reference to Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879), the British photographer considered one of the most important portraitists of the time. I was familiar with her portraits of Julia Jackson Duckworth, Cameron's niece, otherwise I wouldn't have caught this one sentence reference.

Another great outing with Finch's Charles Lenox and the expectation of some changes in the future.
Read in October; blog post scheduled for March 23, 2021.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Historical Mystery. Feb. 10, 2020. Print length: 288 pages.

Read as an early review via Netgalley. A noted and lauded English detective is asked to leave England for the good of Disraeli's administration. It's 1878 and he is sent to America under the Queen's good graces (with some kind of citation that makes him acceptable) and is invited immediately to solve a murder in front of the new society's Newport Beach "cottages". It's a wonderful mis of culture of the times--both English and American. Although it seemed a bit implausible that this detective would have married up into a society Dame's family and have acquired the interest of the Astors in America, it still made for a quick-reading story.

I enjoy historical mysteries, and I liked An Extravagant Death by Charles Finch very much indeed. It’s a straightforward murder mystery, with no ridiculous political cabal or arch-criminal nonsense, and Finch plays fair and plants clues for the reader.

Charles Lenox, a well-bred English inquiry agent visiting the United States is asked to solve a Newport, Rhode Island murder among the Gilded Age elite of Newport, Rhode Island. His collision with the culture, both of the country in general and of the “old money” families and the brash noveau riche is part of An Extravagant Death’s charm.

Two things take the book to the next level for me. One is that both the writing and characters give the right atmosphere to a novel set in 1878. For me, nothing detracts from a historical novel like zippy, 21st century prose full of modern catch phrases and 20th century characters in period dress. This is also the first historical novel of any sort I’ve read in years in which I found no anachronisms in the details.

Now I want to read the previous novels.

This historical mystery series is one of my favorites so the setting in this new book was a bit of a surprise as was the more casual, contemporary phrasing. I'm so used to hearing our main character (Charles Lenox) speak in a formal, upper crust British voice that reading him occasionally using casual phrasing was a bit unsettling; in fact, I didn't like the shift at all as it took away the normal flow of these stories and seemed so out of character. Now the story itself was fun! Because Charles was so good at his work, the Prime Minister asked Charles to "go away" for a while to prevent unwanted political shifts in authority. Charles does travel abroad and is pulled into a case that disrupts his schedule and in an environment totally unlike his usual one. I'll stop here so I don't give away the plot; most will be surprised by where he goes - off on the adventure he craved for decades but never got to experience - but not that he successfully discovers the perpetrator.

A Fresh Take

The Charles Lenox series has always been entertaining and engaging, but every now and then you need to shake things up when you have an extended series. (This volume is number 14.) Lots of authors go for major changes in style, plotting, violent action, or character development, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Here, we mostly go for a change in scenery and background, and that worked out just fine for me.

We transport Lenox to Gilded Age New York City and Newport. New sights, new sounds, new supporting characters, a new political and social culture, but it's still Charles Lenox and we still get a solid, interesting mystery. This struck me as a perfectly satisfying addition to the canon. Lenox may be something of a fish out of water in this new setting, but he gets along swimmingly.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Saint Martin’s press for an advanced review copy of this book. This is a departure for our hero who finds himself in New York at the request of the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He intends to tour the country, however he finds himself in Newport, Rhode Island investigating the death of a young socialite. The book then follows our hero’s standard procedures to solve the mystery. It is a well thought out conundrum, and I enjoyed following along. If you like your historical mysteries peppered with real life figures, such as Caroline Astor, you will enjoy this book. My only complaint is the inclusion of a sidebar mystery that takes place in London, but it seems to serve no purpose. We find out about this murder before Lenox leaves London. He refers to it once or twice during his travels, and at the end we’re told it’s solved with no further explanation. Unless this is the basis of a future book this side story was distracting and needless; otherwise a fine entry in the Charles Lenox series.

Fans of historical mystery series can always look forward to an engrossing and satisfying encounter with Finch's protagonist Charles Lenox.

Finch has composed this series around a character who is so beautifully written and completely "whole" that the reader feels fully equipped to engage with him socially in a Mayfair drawing room. I love every minute I spend reading one of these books, but this one caught me a bit off guard because it has a more pervasive sense of longing and melancholy than I noticed in the other books in the series. Perhaps it is a function of the maturing of the character, but he does spend a lot of time ruminating on his past, his family, his work and his position in society.

This doesn't detract in any way from the compelling story, or the interesting character, but it gives a devoted reader pause to wonder what the author has in mind for the next chapter in our elegant detective's life.

AN EXTRAVAGANT DEATH was fun for me as a reader because it placed the very proper English detective in the heart of Newport, Rhode Island's summer society. I loved his encounters with Mrs. Astor , as well as his "proper British Gentleman's" take on the architecture and excesses of a summer in Newport.

I loved every minute I spent with this book and look forward to my next encounter with Charles Lenox.

NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in return for a candid review.