Tag: series

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.

Terminal by Marshall Karp (Police Procedural)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 4/5 Characters: 4/5

There are some book series that you keep reading simply because you have already invested so much time in them you just feel you have to keep going — this is NOT one of those series. Every single one of Marshall Karp’s Lomax & Biggs mysteries fall in the standalone, great entertainment category. Half-comedy (laugh-out-louds on every page), half-mystery (complete curve balls every couple of chapters), and half-character driven novel (yes, I’m aware my math skills look sketchy here but just go with it), these are my go-to “let me have an entertaining and engaging read” books.

Opening with an hysterical scene where Mike Lomax dressed (sort of) in a hospital gown gaping open at the back while he chases a shooter in a medical complex, this fifth installment of Lomax & Biggs tackles Big Pharma. Someone is recruiting terminally ill patients to knock off specific Big Pharma execs as their final act and it’s up to Lomax & Biggs to figure out the why.

In addition to the regular cast of wise-cracking characters (all of whom I’d be happy to have in my life), we have a couple of new additions. My favorite: Eli Hand, recovering rabbi who chose the medical field least likely to have complaining patients (pathology) — after his experience at the synagogue he referred to as “Temple Beth Oy, Do I Have a Problem.” I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

You can start this series anywhere, but I’d start with number one — The Rabbit Factory.