The Inheritance (Charles Lenox Series #10)

by Charles Finch

Overview

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER

A mysterious bequest of money leads to a murder in the tenth entry in Charles Finch's critically acclaimed and bestselling Charles Lenox series, whose last installment The New York Times called “a sterling addition to this well-polished series.”

Charles Lenox has received a cryptic plea for help from an old Harrow schoolmate, Gerald Leigh, but when he looks into the matter he finds that his friend has suddenly disappeared. As boys they had shared a secret: a bequest from a mysterious benefactor had smoothed Leigh’s way into the world after the death of his father. Lenox, already with a passionate interest in detective work, made discovering the benefactor's identity his first case – but was never able to solve it.

Now, years later, Leigh has been the recipient of a second, even more generous bequest. Is it from the same anonymous sponsor? Or is the money poisoned by ulterior motives? Leigh’s disappearance suggests the latter, and as Lenox tries, desperately, to save his friend’s life, he’s forced into confrontations with both the most dangerous of east end gangs and the far more genteel denizens of the illustrious Royal Society. When someone close to the bequest dies, Lenox must finally delve deep into the past to uncover at last the identity of the person who is either his friend’s savior – or his lethal enemy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250130198
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/31/2017
Series:	Charles Lenox Series , #10
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Charles Finch is a novelist and literary critic, author of the beloved Charles Lenox mysteries, following one of the earliest private detectives in Victorian London. The books have appeared multiple times on the USA Today bestseller list. He has written numerous essays, articles, and reviews for The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Slate, New York, and The Guardian, and was honored with the 2017 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing by the National Book Critics Circle. He subsequently served on the NBCC’s board, and has also been a board member of the arts colony Ragdale and was one of three judges for the 2021 Pen-Faulkner Prize. He lives in Los Angeles with his family.

Editorial Reviews

"There are echoes of Holmes and Watson here, but Lenox is his own man: a humanist, even a kind of feminist, with a deep curiosity and compassion for others that belies his class." —The New Yorker on the Charles Lenox Mysteries

“A detailed and engrossing murder plot . . . a skillfully drawn social portrait of the late 1800s . . . Finch conjures the palpable excitement of the day over such groundbreaking developments as the telegraph and electricity, as England—and the rest of the world—stand on the brink of great change.” —BookPage.com

“The upper-class amateur sleuth, an endangered species even in historical mysteries, is very much alive in Charles Finch's charming Victorian whodunits.” —The New York Times Book Review

"Finch is a clever plotter and assiduous researcher. Like Anthony Trollope, he is an insider’s outsider. If you are a mystery addict seeking an escape hatch from the 21st century, check out this series by an elegant writer at the top of his form." —Seattle Times

"A thick, leisurely, British detective novel, studded with memorable characters like raisins in a fruitcake." —Hallie Ephron, The Boston Globe

“A delight! . . . It's a rare accomplishment to make a murder so charming and a detective so compelling. Bravo Mr Finch . . . more Lenox, please.” —Louise Penny, author of A Great Reckoning

From the Publisher

2016-08-23
In the 10th installment of this Victorian-era series, a Member of Parliament–turned–private detective gets the chance to solve a 30-year-old mystery that involves his boyhood friend.Charles Lenox hasn’t seen his Harrow school friend Gerald Leigh in many years, ever since Leigh got happily expelled and set off for a life of travel and, eventually, scientific inquiry. But hearing from Leigh generates an extra sense of excitement when his letter reveals that his return to London is related to his “mysterious benefactor.” Lenox and Leigh started an unusual friendship at school when Leigh explained that his tuition was paid by an anonymous “friend,” whose identity he desperately wanted to figure out. It was Lenox’s first mystery, and it still hasn’t been solved. It becomes clear that this is much more than child’s play when Leigh goes missing from the Collingwood Hotel and Lenox must track him down—and once he does, Leigh reports that attempts have been made on his life. The descriptions of the attackers are at once familiar to Lenox, who recognizes the pair as Anderson and Singh, part of the notorious Farthing gang. Who could possibly order this traveling scientist dead? This is when Leigh reveals that the mysterious benefactor has recently left him a rather large sum, enough to make him rich by any standards—and enough to make people risk killing for it. While in London, Leigh is also persuaded to speak at the Royal Society, which has been encouraging his visit for a long time. To Lenox’s surprise, his old friend has become quite the sensation. But when Leigh’s solicitor Ernest Middleton is found murdered, Lenox is reminded that the target is still very much on Leigh’s back. It’s time he consults his agency partners Lord John Dallington and Polly Buchanon, who have been working a break-in case at Parliament, keeping watch there overnight and, to Lenox’s extreme interest, becoming closer with each passing day. The tension continues to rise as an element of deceit clouds the entire investigation and events take surprisingly sinister and twisting turns. Finch impressively raises the stakes of this tale between tea settings, and his character development is top-notch.

Kirkus Reviews