Tag: Charles Finch

Midnight in the House of Commons by Charles Finch

Number 16 in the Charles Lennox mystery series. I haven’t read them all, but I loved this one! Got me straight through a long and uncomfortable flight.

1881 in London — in addition to the mysteries (the murder of a member of Parliament in the House of Commons, a mysteriously vanished fiancé, and a surprising heartbreak), we are treated to numerous and intriguing contextual details about the era: suffragettes, the Travelers Club for Gentlemen (you have to have traveled at least 500 miles from London in a straight line), the origin of and immediate enthusiasm for toilet tissue, 19th century chemistry, and the machinations and odd traditions of the lords and commoners in Parliament. Our Lennox — with his Holmesian observational skills, aristocratic bearing, and calm demeanor — is on the case. While it’s a cozy (IMHO) with some filler — I found the filler infinitely more interesting than the typical food related fluff.

Quite fun!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 3rd, 2026.

The Hidden City by Charles Finch (Historical Mystery)

Number 12 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 xxx.” 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!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 4th, 2025.