It is January, 1877 in London. Charles Lenox, watching the
snow pile up outside his Hampden Lane home, is awaiting a
visit from his old Harrow classmate, Gerald Leigh. He has
neither seen or heard from him in many years, but a plea for
his help arrived via a letter written on stationary from the
elite Collingwood Hotel, just blocks away. Leigh was
expected to call that afternoon. As the hours ticked by
and no appearance from his friend, Lenox, an investigator
with his own business, begins to explore his friend's
disappearance and becomes involved in a mess, a BIG mess.
In that era, two of the most prestigious public schools in
London in are Harrow and Eton. Harrow, the most
sophisticated, while Eton, the most hallowed. Harrow was a
Lenox family tradition as his father and his older brother,
Edmund attended the famous school. He befriended Leigh who
was an outcast who did not come from wealth or social
standing. As they became closer, Leigh confided that he had
a secret and mysterious benefactor who funded his tuition at
Harrow and his expenses. When he confided
that he had no idea who the MB (mysterious benefactor) was,
Lenox immediately knew he wanted to investigate and find out
who was responsible. Then and there he knew he wanted to
become an investigator.
When Leigh disappears, Lenox becomes involved in murder,
London gangs, and the Royal Society. Along with his partners
in the Lenox Agency, he follows the clues in several mysteries
that run simultaneously and will keep you guessing.
Lord Dallington and Polly Buchanan, the first female sleuth,
are partners in Lenox's Detective Agency and find romance
along with solving why the windows at Parliament were
smashed and who smashed them. THE INHERITANCE by Charles
Finch is a
clever period plot filled mystery with interesting twists
and an
assortment of trivia. Why do the British drive on the left
side of the road? Where did fish and chips evolve?
The characters are colorful and Leigh will steal your heart
as he did to Lenox, his wife, Lady Jane, and his daughter,
Sophia. An "electric" ending that will have you smiling and
looking for the next Charles Lenox Mystery. Well
done, Mr. Finch.
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.