Great Summer Reads: Charles Finch

Since I've given up on the Midnight shift for a while, I've been enjoying some light summer reading.  I was a little behind on my favorite writers.  I've been chewing throught paperbacks over the last couple weeks.  Well, that's not exactly accurate since I started reading on the Nook.  What would the term be nowadays?  You can't really chew through an e-book . . . maybe I'm surfing through fiction?  I don't know.

I know I've mentioned Charles Finch before.  He's a very talented writer.  For those of you like me, that enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories, he's got a lot to offer.  It's the same Victorian era in London, his characters are well conceived, and he really weaves a fantastic story.  I just finished his last book A Stranger in Mayfair.  I was a little concerned at the end of the third book when his detective, Charles Lennox, was elected to Parliment and got married.  I thought maybe he'd jumped the shark, but it all worked very well in the last one.  I also noticed he has a fifth book scheduled for release in November 2011 A Burial at Sea so there's something to look forward to around Thanksgiving. 

Set in England in 1865, Finch's impressive debut A Beautiful Blue Death introduces an appealing gentleman sleuth, Charles Lenox. When Lady Jane Grey's former servant, Prue Smith, dies in an apparent suicide-by-poisoning, Lady Jane asks Lenox, her closest friend, to investigate. The attractive young maid had been working in the London house of George Barnard, the current director of the Royal Mint. Lenox quickly determines that Smith's death was a homicide, but both Barnard and Scotland Yard resist that conclusion, forcing him to work discreetly. Aided by his Bunter-like butler and friend, Graham, the detective soon identifies a main suspect, only to have that theory shattered by that man's murder. Finch laces his writing with some Wodehousian touches and devises a solution intricate enough to fool most readers. Lovers of quality historical whodunits will hope this is the first in a series.

As in Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four, a crime committed in India has consequences in England years later in Finch's second Victorian whodunit The September Society to feature amateur detective Charles Lenox (after 2007's A Beautiful Blue Death). Since a prologue set in 1847 India makes clear that a double murder there is connected to a murder in London in 1866, there's little mystery about the general nature of the motive behind the later crime. Lady Annabelle Payson consults the Peter Wimsey–like Lenox after the disappearance of her Oxford undergraduate son, George, who left behind in his college room a dead cat and a note referring to the September Society. When George turns up dead as well, Lenox vows to track down the killer, aided by his manservant, the Bunter-like Graham. While neither the prose nor the puzzle are at the level of A Beautiful Blue Death, that volume showed enough promise to suggest that the author is capable of better in the next installment.

The near simultaneous murders on Christmas night of two giants of Fleet Street—Daily Telegraph writer Winston Carruthers and Daily News editor Simon Pierce—rock 1866 London in Finch's absorbing third historical The Fleet Street Murders (after 2008's The September Society). These sensational crimes disturb holiday festivities at the Mayfair home of amateur detective Charles Lenox, who jumps at the chance to further his crime-solving career. In the meantime, Lenox's restless fiancée, Lady Jane Grey, may delay their impending nuptials while Lenox is also off running for Parliament in distant Stirrington, where he learns the seamy underside of British politics. The multifaceted case includes a coded letter, wartime espionage, a gang slaying, bribery and eavesdropping, making it all fearfully complicated in the words of Inspector Jenkins of Scotland Yard. An exciting boat chase on the Thames leads to a slightly incongruous happy ending.

Set in 1860s London, Finch's fourth mystery featuring gentleman detective Charles Lenox A Stranger in Mayfair (after 2009's The Fleet Street Murders) finds Lenox newly married to his longtime friend, Lady Jane Grey, and newly elected to Parliament. When Ludovic Starling, a slight acquaintance, asks Lenox to look into the bludgeoning murder of his footman, Frederick Clarke, Lenox, who wonders why Starling hasn't called in Scotland Yard, at first declines. In the end, despite the demands of his new vocation, Lenox agrees to help. The investigator, who's troubled to learn that Starling has been less than forthright with him, can't accept the police theory that a rival servant killed Clarke. Finch equips Lenox with his own Bunter in the person of a former butler turned political secretary, but the pair come across as weak, warmed-over versions of the golden age Dorothy Sayers originals. Portentous chapter endings undermine the otherwise solid prose.

Give 'em a try--I think you'll enjoy them.

~TEC

Treat Yourself to a Good Read Over the Holidays

The nice thing about the holidays, is the quiet time, where you can sit down and enjoy a little time alone with a good book, and maybe a nice cup of cocoa in the front of the fireplace (or perhaps more realistically as you read at the kitchen table, sipping a beer as Spongebob Squarepants drones on in the background).  I read a lot more fiction this year than non-fiction--it's usually just the opposite.  In fact the last few years, I've read very little fiction, so I'm a little behind on my favorite authors.  Here's a few titles that stand out in my mind as being particularly good. 

Charles Finch is definitely on my favorites list--terrific author.  I've read two of his novels in the last few months (he has four at this point).  His first novel A Beautiful Blue Death was nearly impossible to put down.  His second book The September Society was a little different, and a bit slower paced, but well crafted.  They're just great reads, especially if you enjoy the era of Sherlock Holmes--the foggy gas-lit streets of London.  Finch weaves great stories.  I hope he continues with these.  Try him out.

You can hardly walk by a book rack without seeing Stieg Larsson's books.  It took me some time to finally get around to reading it.  So often books that receive that much hype are usually disappointing.  I'd have to admit, it took me some time to get into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I'd nearly put it down before I finally got caught up in it.  It did wind up being a very good book.  It's a little longer than it needs to be, but it's worth the effort.  I haven't read the other two yet, but they're definitely on my future reading list. 

This is one of those cases where they made a pretty crappy movie out of an excellent book.  And if you actually thought that movie was good, then read the book, because it's way better.  Shutter Island is chilling, and impossible to put down from the first few pages.  Some of Lehane's books I like, and some don't do much for me, but this one was outstanding.  I just loved it, but it one of those books that's probably best to read over lunch rather than right before you go to bed.

This is a newer series by Michael Connelly.  I finally got around to it.  It's a great character, and a real departure from Harry Bosch--Mickey Haller is a defense attorney that truly believes in justice.  The Lincoln Lawyer offers up a great plot, interesting characters, and all the twists and turns Michael Connelly is known for.  A very quick read.  You may remember this new character's name if you've read Connelly's Harry Bosch series--they're half-brothers.  Harry and Mickey will eventually get together in a couple books as this series continues.   

And C.S. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr novels are good too.  I was a little behind in the series, but I've caught up this year.  I'd read the first two when they were originally released.  I would have to say some of the books are better than others, but they are all well done and worth reading.  Like Charles Finch's books, they take place in 19th century London. 

This is the short list.  I actually discovered a lot of new writers this year (at least new to me).  I get stuck in a rut sometimes, but I did a pretty good job of expanding my horizons somewhat.  If you try and like C.S. Harris, and Charles Finch, be sure to check out  Will Thomas.  His books seem destined for Hollywood.  They are fast paced, action adventures.  They are a little less realistic 19th century, and a little more escapist, bordering on the edge of what might be called steam punk fiction.  It's a little bit like James Bond in Victorian England. 

Enjoy your quiet time if you get any this holiday season.

TEC

Famous Freemason: It's Elementary My Dear Watson . . .

I’d have to admit that one of my favorite writers has always been Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—coincidentally, he was also a Freemason, and if he’d been an American, he would have been one of the first Masons I would have profiled in one of my books. I’ve read and re-read the Sherlock Holmes stories since I was a kid. There are four novels and fifty-six short stories. What you may not know, is that if Doyle had been successful at his chosen profession, we probably wouldn’t have one of the most famous detectives of all time—the world’s first pop icon if you will.

Doyle, a Scotsman, studied to be a doctor at the University of Edinburgh, and then set up a small practice. It was hugely unsuccessful, and it gave him a lot of time to think. And he had a lot of time to write. Much like Sherlock Holmes biographer, it seems like Dr. Doyle, like Dr. Watson, was always working with Sherlock Holmes instead of seeing patients.

A lot of what Doyle wrote about fictionally in his stories have become fact today. He wrote about Sherlock Holmes using fingerprints long before that was actually done. Holmes had a remarkable ability to profile people and could tell a lot about them from their clothing and mannerisms, which is done today too. He was a master at trace evidence as well—studying everything from soil types, to various types of tobacco ash.

Writers still write new Sherlock Holmes stories today, but I haven’t found many I like. I don’t know what it is, but they just aren’t quite right. I’ve always felt maybe it’s just best to leave it alone rather than diminish Doyle’s remarkable work. I did stumble across a couple writers recently that write detective fiction in that same tradition, during that same early-Victorian period London that Doyle wrote about. I particularly like Charles Finch. His first book about detective Charles Lenox, A Beautiful Blue Death, was excellent. His knowledge of early-Victorian London is obvious—he captures that period perfectly. I’m working on his second novel now, The September Society, that is set at Oxford University. It’s kept me up late two nights this week.

Then there are Will Thomas’ novels about Cyrus Barker and his apprentice Thomas Llewelyn. Those books are really different from Doyle’s, but they are a blast to read. There are several novels starting with Some Danger Involved. They are action packed, and quickly paced—they are kind of like Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones if you will. I'd be willing to bet it won’t be long before Barker & Llewelyn find their way to the big screen.