The Fleet Street Murders

From Publishers WeeklyThe 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 (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. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“A beguiling Victorian mystery [with] an amiable gentleman sleuth cut from the same fine English broadcloth as Dorothy L. Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review“Deftly plotted and richly detailed, The Fleet Street Murders is a taut Victorian thriller delivered from the pen of a master.” —Deanna Raybourn, author of Silent on the Moor“Somewhere in detective heaven, Sherlock Holmes and Lord Peter Wimsey are already preparing a glass of hot whiskey for Mr. Charles Lenox. This suave and flinty sleuth has a gorgeously dangerous future ahead of him, and so do lovers of Victorian mysteries.” —Louis Bayard, author of The Black Tower“This third entry in Finch’s series shows the author at his confident best, with a well-conceived story [and] an honorable and amiable hero.” —_Richmond__ Times-Dispatch_“A charming and intelligent mystery series. . . . Finch effortlessly evokes a tone fitting the Victorian times, and that is a large part of his novel’s charm.” —_The Oregonian_