"From bestselling author Charles Finch comes the third and final in a prequel trilogy to his lauded Charles Lenox series. London, 1855: A young and eager Charles Lenox faces his toughest case yet: a murder without a single clue. Slumped in a first-class car at Paddington Station is the body of a young, handsome gentleman. He has no luggage, empty pockets, and no sign of violence upon his person - yet Lenox knows instantly that it's not a natural death....

"London, 1850: A young Charles Lenox struggles to make a name for himself as a detective...without a single case. Scotland Yard refuses to take him seriously and his friends deride him for attempting a profession at all. But when an anonymous writer sends a letter to the paper claiming to have committed the perfect crime-and promising to kill again-Lenox is convinced that this is his chance to prove himself. The writer's first victim is a young woman...

"In the small hours of the morning one fall day in 1866, a frantic widow visits detective Charles Lenox. Lady Annabelle's problem is simple: her beloved son, George, has vanished from his room at Oxford. When Lenox visits his alma mater to investigate he discovers a series of bizarre clues, including a murdered cat and a card cryptically referring to 'The September Society.' Then, just as Lenox realizes that the case may be deeper than it appears,...

In March 1873 aristocratic sleuth Charles Lenox undertakes a delicate espionage mission to Egypt, where five British agents have been killed, apparently by the French. But soon after Charles's ship sets sail, the captain calls on him to dust off his deductive skills when a crew member is murdered and left eviscerated on the deck.

Drawn back into his old profession, Charles Lenox, a Member of Parliament, investigates the murder of an innocuous country squire and discovers that this body is only the first step in a deadly plan to destroy England's monarchy. "In the seventh book of Finch's bestselling series of Victorian mysteries, a case of mistaken identity has Charles Lenox playing for his highest stakes yet: the safety of Queen Victoria herself. On a spring morning in London,...

Charles Lenox is at the pinnacle of his political career and is a delighted new father. His days of investigating the crimes of Victorian London are now years behind him. He plans a trip to his uncle's estate, Everley, in the expectation of a few calm weeks to write an important speech. When he arrives in the quiet village of Plumley, however, what greets him is a series of strange vandalisms upon the local shops: broken windows, minor thefts, threatening...

When his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help in solving the apparent suicide of one of Jane's former servants, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer Charles Lenox is on the case. When another body turns up during the London season's most fashionable ball, Lenox must untangle a web of loyalties and animosities.