Thank you NetGalley for allowing a preview of the book before publication date.

The Hidden City is an installment in a series of books with the main character being Charles Lenox. Although you can read the books out of order and take away the key plot to the book, reading in order allows you to meet characters that may arise in the different novels at a later date, as well as allows you to see the evolution of the characters and Finch's writing itself.
This book focuses on Charles Lenox investigating another murder but while doing so something else catches his eye...a symbol. He sees it etched in other areas and his inquiring mind leads him onto a dual path. There are other themes of the era that are touched on such as women's rights and class divisions. Finch does a fabulous job of drawing you into the Victorian era staying true to historical facts although this is a work of fiction.
The characters are realistic and memorable. The dynamics of the characters are interwoven expertly throughout the book. If you're like me when you read, it's as if you are right there with them as they develop and grow. Charles Lenox after having a conversation with the villain asks himself later whether he was a villain in the true sense.

"I want to hear about it all again. This hidden city you and your friends discovered-created-mappped."

This book really is a page turner and appropriate for anyone 16+. Finch brings them to life with his simple yet moving prose.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though I hadn't read other books in the series but it absolutely has me on the search for his other books. I definitely recommend reading Finch's Charles Lenox series books especially the Hidden City. His writing style is witty, his characters well developed, and most importantly there are thought provoking statements found in reading his books.

"A chance. That was what he must fight for other people to have."

This review can also be found on goodreads.

This book was worth the wait. I have read this series from start to finish in order and it never disappoints. Lenox is older and his past is starting to catch up with him physically. He takes to a new fad of working out and massage to get through it.
When his retired maid tells him a vagrant is sleeping in front of her house, he is obliged to look more closely for her. His new protege, Montague, assists. Dallinger and Polly appear too and you can see the progression of the detective agency and it’s success.
Then there is Jane and her fight for woman’s voting rights. This book is so engaging as a mystery and a fictional account of a family in the 1860s. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Mr Finch for an early read of the next chapter in the series. Keep them coming please!

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book. This was my first time reading a book from this series and I’m sure if I had been caught up it would have been a more enjoyable read.

There was a lot about this book that I liked, the writing style, the characters, the setting and the sub plots were excellent. But the main story felt a little slow and very low stakes.

Number 15 in this historical mystery series, but number one for me. Regardless of not knowing the history of the characters I was able to follow the story very well. I would definitely categorize this as a “cozy” as there were no “thrilling” (i.e. terrifying for the reader) scenes to get my anxiety going. Fine by me! Interesting that as a cozy written by a man, there was less filler of the tea parties and gown description types (also fine by me) but plenty of historical detail about the Victorian Age in which the stories are set. This included plenty of social as well as policy / political commentary. I particularly enjoyed the description of various “guilds” (known here as “livery companies”) started in medieval times — all styled as the “Worshipful Company of <fill in the blank>.” Tickled me. Some good bits on women’s suffrage and the complete injustice of the treatment of London’s “lower classes.” This particular episode felt like more of a novel than a mystery, although there was a mystery obviously (old murders just tied together with a current threat to someone living in the house where one of them occurred). I quite liked the characters and will likely go back to number one and see how things progress!

Charles Lennox has had a rough year. A wound that still hurts, no interest in work and a wife who is publicly working for women's votes. Then his old housekeeper asks for help, a young cousin arrives and life improves. Wonderful!

Oddly enough, this is the first book I have read by Charles Finch, and I enjoyed it immensely. The author's minute examination of the various parts of London city and the unusual plot kept me reading almost non-stop. The plot has an interesting "cozy" element, and at the same time, the reader is introduced to disparate characters who fill the pages with curious types and where they haunt the various geographies of London in 1879. In addition, Finch describes in detail Lenox' upscale London dwelling and the people who inhabit it.

His wife, Lady Jane, is involved in the suffragist movement, and early in the book, his cousin Angela arrives by ship from India with her friend, Sari, who is Indian. Angela has lost her parents, and Sari is her best friend. The plot of their introduction to London society enhances the book greatly. When we meet the various people who help the Lenox family, the book becomes a cozy mystery of sorts.

The mystery, which moves a bit slowly but cleverly, looks at a certain small carving that appears on buildings where a murder has taken place, and Lenox eventually ferrets out the connections among all these settings.

Finch deftly combines setting, rich historical detail, various intriguing characters, and weaves them all together with skill and interest.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this excellent book.

Charles Lenox cracks a plethora of puzzles in "The Hidden City" to solve a seven-year-old murder.

Newcomers to Charles Finch's mystery series set in the late 1800s in London and starring a gentleman of leisure should enjoy the story. Devoted fans of the series will enjoy the stroll down memory lane as Lenox comes to the aid of a former housekeeper, asks the help of his former valet and visits old friends who have populated earlier mysteries.

Lenox and Lady Jane now have two young daughters and add two more young women to their household when a cousin names Charles as guardian. A changing society forces Lenox to consider women's suffrage, the equality of races and the plight of the poor.

An enjoyable, insightful story.

3 stars

The year is 1879 and our hero Charles Lenox is in the midst of a long recovery from a brutal stabbing in Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A (those heinous Americans! And, darn it, I missed that one. Since this is listed as the tenth in the Lenox series I think I may have read all the others, save that one.) A letter from an old servant reaches him during his recuperation (I pause to note that I believe this may be the only book so far in which Charles does not comment (internally) on his use of an old….toast holder(?) to organize his letters. Was this written by an impostor? But I digress.) and she puts him on the trail of an old murder case which, to be honest, is very, very dull. And that’s even with a super secret villain’s mark and a worthy scoundrel. Don’t you just love a worthy scoundrel?

What is good about the book? Everything else. The life among the rich, moneyed and royal-adjacent in 1879 London. Lady Jane has taken up the suffrage movement! Quelle horror! Lenox’s cousin (but think niece) and her companion show up from India, the cousin to be Lenox’s ward. The Lenoxes throw a big party which I could have read at least another chapter about (friends, I would have read a chapter about what everyone was wearing, the menu and what the floral arrangements looked like, so don’t mind me. Note to author: definitely include the menu next time. Everyone loves that.) There are things going on with friends, the detective agency…just life. And I loved all those parts. These things are why I will keep on reading these books. I just hope for a better crime next time!

Recommended for all the above reasons if you’ve read and enjoyed the series before, but if you haven’t, this isn’t the best entry and you would be well fixed to k ow the rest of the characters first. In fact, start with the first in the series and enjoy!

Charles Lenox is asked by a former servant to solve a cold case which seems to have come back to life. Lenox and his detective colleagues painstakingly follow the trail of a murdered man and the suspects in his death against the background of a changing London, including Lenox's wife's public advocacy for women's suffrage. Best suited for longtime readers of the series, as the recurring characters and their long-standing relationships may be difficult for a new reader to grasp. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC.

This is the latest installment to the Charles Lenox series, which I absolutely love. It's the perfect blend of mystery, historic setting, and just the slightest bit of cozy. The author Charles Finch had released the previous book 3 years prior, and I think that showed in his writing. He was trying to do something a bit different with the last two books, making them darker. In The Hidden City, he takes that a bit further, stepping away from the cozier aspects of the series. Charles, our intrepid private detective, is recovering from an injury, and the book wrestles with his recovery as he tries to solve a case for his previous housekeeper Mrs. Huggins (featured in the prequels).

I really loved seeing all of the characters back in action with appearances from Mrs. Huggins, Skaggs, McConnell and Graham who I've missed seeing in the previous books. However, the time in between books led to this one feeling like it wasn't quite in line with the series, and the characters didn't exactly act like themselves. I missed the cozy and historical elements in this one, although I did still enjoy it overall. In the end, this book wasn't my favorite in this series and I hope the story will be continued(as it is hinted at the end) by going back to the original vibe.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early copy!

Thank you Net Galley for giving me this advance reader copy. I got about half way through this book, feeling thoroughly lost, when I figured out that it was the twelfth in a series. Had I known, I would not have requested it until I had caught up. The writing style was enjoyable and the characters reminded me of something out of the Professor Layton games. Victorian, cozy and quaint, with a small unassuming murder to solve, I can see myself getting swept up in this series… from the beginning. Starting in the middle when past cases are constantly being referenced? Do not recommend.

Wonderful, beginning to end! I feared we had seen the last of Finch’s excellent Charles Lenox mysteries; the last was published in 2021, and up to that point, the installments had been annual. The Hidden City is a triumphant return, set shortly after 2021’s An Extravagant Death, which took Lenox to the U.S. and returned him near mortally wounded. The passage of time has increasingly been at the forefront of Lenox’s mind (he has now, as we are told often, passed 50). And while we meet many old friends again—Lady Lenox, two (!) daughters, McConnell, Edmund, Graham, and London itself (which Lenox adores)—like Lenox, they are all changed, some new phases of their lives not as comfortable a fit for them and Lenox as the old. Always among the more introspective fictional detectives, Lenox feels absences keenly, most notably those of his mother, sister-in-law, and a cousin, whose daughter’s arrival from India with her lifelong friend is the focus of much of this story. But not all of it, because, as usual, many plots are moving forward at once—from a puzzle involving Lenox (and Graham’s) former housekeeper, to Lady Jane’s publicly taking up the cause of suffrage, to the trajectories of Graham and Edmund’s unexpected political careers, to Lenox’s continued struggle to regain his strength and old outlook as he recovers from his injuries. I devoured this book nearly in one sitting and was reminded of Finch’s deep research subtly deployed, elegant prose, keen observations and commentary, and evocative descriptions that allow the reader to see what Lenox sees or feel what he feels (whether his deep weariness, the brutal cold of the season, or the weight of moral demands). And there is snow, much snow—perhaps all designed to evoke the end of Joyce’s The Dead, with the snow falling all over London like Ireland, and Lenox coming back to life, newly determined that if he pass into that other world any time soon, it will be in the full glory of his passions.

I’d not read any previous titles in this series however I didn’t have any difficulty reading this as a stand alone. The history points were interesting as were the characters. The story was well written and I think it fits nicely in the cozy, historical drama genre.

Waiting a long time for the next instalment of this well written series. I was not disappointed. Great puzzling plot and secondary plots. Highly recommend this series.

First of all thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC! In exchange for my honest review:)

I LOVE historical fiction but I have never read a historical fiction mystery but this book was a 5 star read for me soooo good! The writing is also beautiful and I felt like I was there in England it was hard to come back to reality after finishing this book! I can’t wait to recommend this book to all my followers family and friends:)

I can't tell you how loud I screamed when I found out St Martin's Press had approved my request for this ARC. I own a physical copy of all the Lenox books and it's - bar none - my absolute favourite historical mystery series. I'm never as relieved as when I see that another book is in the works. It's just superb and the best of its kind.

The Hidden City was so incredibly wonderful - I read it in one sitting as I always do with these books - and it does what few series do, which is have the main character grow. Lenox is a happily married man with two daughters - I loved little Clara in this, who has all the makings of a detective - and a loving wife who's taken more than a passing interest in women's suffrage. Lenox is a gentleman, still recovering from the near-death experience he went through in An Extravagant Death (still to this day one of my absolute favourite books in the series) when he's faced with two new challenges - solve a cold case to help dear Mrs Huggins, his former firm but fair housekeeper (flashback to one of my favourite funny scenes in the whole series where she pretends she's got a kitten situation under control when she very much does not) and make his cousin's daughter, Angela, and her friend, Sari, welcome in England when they've spent their entire life in India.

All three threads are fascinating - Lady Jane's passion for the vote, what Lenox ends up finding in the course of his investigation (a whole hidden city indeed for someone who's not unaware of the dark side of life but still enjoys an incredibly cosseted existence full of home comforts) and his new role as guardian to these two lovely young women who up till now knew nothing of England except what they'd read in books. All three stories make Lenox grow and change and acquire a newfound knowledge of himself, his class, and his time. This moved me so much.

But beyond that, the best part of The Hidden City for me is the reason why this series is the absolute best in historical mystery right now - its sense of place. For the course of a book, you are completely and thoroughly dropped into Victorian England and I had to blink myself back to reality when reading this, it was SO engrossing. The streets, the food, the smells, all the absolutely fascinating trivia about all sorts of things and all parts of Victorian society (the minuatie of politics, but also livery companies, the evolution in methods of detecting).

It's also deeply comforting - I know I'm going to be rereading The Hidden City over and over again, it's got that cosy quality that Finch's writing always has - the lovely descriptions of food, you never enter a place without being told what's beautiful about it and stands out, his family and circle of friends you always want to check on (the entire gang makes an appearance here, somehow unexpectedly my favourite one this time around was Skaggs, one scene in particular made me smile, it involves a piano, you'll know it when you see it).

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this. Being able to read this now when it was probably my most anticipated release of the year and only comes out in November is nothing short of miraculous. I adored this book so much. The ending hints at many more adventures to come, even adventures abroad - thank god. When you've got something this good, you never want to let go.

My endless thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC!