Home by Nightfall by Charles Finch
With the impenetrable fog and stifling conventions, Victorian London is an irresistible setting for murder mysteries, and the Charles Lenox series by Charles Finch is an especially good one.
In Finch’s ninth novel, Lenox’s fledgling detective agency is on the cusp of profitably, and solving the high profile disappearance of a German pianist would enhance the agency’s coffers and reputation. But before he can embark on the case of the vanishing pianist, Lenox, a younger son of a Baron and a former Member of Parliament, must visit his grieving elder brother at the family home in Sussex.
Instead of relaxing in the country however, Lenox is persuaded to investigate a series of petty thefts in the local village.
But even while preoccupied with Markethouse village mischief, Lenox is mulling on the missing pianist. With the assistance of his brother Edmund and his colleagues in London, Lenox rushes to solve both city and country crimes.
Even thought I guessed “who done it” early on, Charles Lenox is a welcome addition to the aristocratic amateur sleuth mystery cannon. Accompanied by a cup of tea, Home by Nightfall is easy reading on a gloomy winter day!