A Beautiful Blue Death Charles Finch St. Martin's $24.95 HC 320 pages July

Charles Lenox, the hero of Charles Finch's A Beautiful Blue Death, is a London gentleman of 1865. His brother is a member of Parliament. His neighbor, Lady Jane, is a childhood friend. His butler, Graham, is his loyal confidant. His assistant is Dr. McConnell, himself married into a titled family. This is a tale told from upper crust England. What does a well to do gentleman of the times do with his time? He becomes an amateur detective.

In A Beautiful Blue Death Charles is called by Lady Jane to investigate the death of a former servant girl of hers, Prudence Smith. Her current employer, George Barnard, MP and currently in charge of the mint, tries to convince Lenox and a young policeman, Jenkins, that the girl committed suicide by ingesting poison. Charles persuades him otherwise. Barnard uses his position to replace the young officer, who is sympathetic to modern investigative technique, with a more amenable investigator, Inspector Exeter. Exeter and Barnard put Lenox on the fringe of the investigation. Suspects are many, clues are present and fairly laid out but the plotting is convoluted enough that the reader having a go at solving this crime will have to read close. Charles doggedly sorts through both clues and suspects and with the help of his friends A Beautiful Blue Death comes to a satisfying end. Throughout the story Charles mentions previous cases and the conclusion suggests 'future' cases. Thus, Mr. Finch has room to play and his easy going English Gentleman is likely to appear again as a welcome addition to the historical side of the genre.

Dave Biemann