A Death in the Small Hours (Charles Lenox Mysteries)
Charles Lenox, the Victorian-era member of Parliament, doesn’t think he misses his days as London’s premier private investigator. He’s too busy climbing the political ladder, and, anyway, his young protégé, John Dallington, seems to be doing just fine on his own, turning into a first-class detective. But when Lenox accepts an invitation to spend some time at his uncle’s estate in the country, he has to admit it’s not entirely because he needs peace and quiet to work on an upcoming speech: his uncle’s tantalizing hints about a series of bewildering vandalisms in the village of Plumley tug at Charles’ not-so-dormant investigative curiosity (and when vandalism escalates to murder, Lenox is hooked). The latest in Finch’s veddy British mysteries is, like its predecessors, leisurely paced, with ornate Victorian dialogue that often comes oh-so-close to parody (“I find a walk after supper a eupeptic diversion”) and plenty of richly detailed scene-setting description. Sure to please fans of the previous Lenox novels. --David Pitt