Charles Finch

My new Charles Lenox historical mystery novel, The September Society, is in bookstores today. It's the tale of a student who vanishes from Oxford University, leaving behind a trail of perplexing clues which Lenox must decipher. There are new characters, plus the return of my favorite old ones - McConnell, Lady Jane, and Graham among them.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch made the day doubly happy by giving the book a rave:

'Charles Finch, the author of last year’s “A Beautiful Blue Death,” now returns with “The September Society” (320 pages, St. Martin’s Minotaur, $24.95), another period piece that combines the sensibilities of Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L. Sayers with the creative talents of its young author.
“A Beautiful Blue Death” was a remarkable debut mystery, set in England in 1865 and featuring Charles Lenox, a wealthy, aristocratic, amateur detective. He returns in “The September Society,” an equally fascinating puzzler with even more surprising twists. And in addition to the finely tuned plot, Finch invests his work with wonderful characters — Lenox and his close friend Lady Jane Grey top the list — and a detailed evocation of mid-Victorian London.
Finch’s second novel begins with a visit to Lenox from a frightened Lady Annabelle Payson, whose only child, George, has gone missing from Oxford. As Lenox investigates (and as Finch writes in an intriguing prologue), it becomes clear that George’s fate is tied to deaths that took place nearly 20 years ago in British-ruled India.
A creative storyline with some genuine surprises, well-drawn characters, a keen sense of place and time and refined prose combine to make “The September Society” an all-around winner.'

- Jay Strafford

I hope you like it too!