Here is the first of my new, now-and-then recurring blogs on great book series I have found and loved. Of course, great series are found in all genres, and if you read my blog regularly you know I do read a wide variety of genres. But if I’m reviewing a great series in a genre you haven’t read, that might be the prefect entre to a new world of reading. So give it a try!

This blog’s entry is in a genre I truly love: mysteries. You might know that I have a cozy mystery out there called ‘Framed‘. If you’re interested you can click HERE to check it out. But I’ll leave any further chit chat on that book for another day. On to our new series: The Charles Lenox Mystery Series by Charles Finch. Click HERE to find the first book on Amazon.

Set in Victorian England, our protagonist is an interesting and complicated character.  Charles Lenox is a gentleman of the upper class with Parliamentary aspirations who has discovered he has a real talent as a detective.

With time and means to pursue this talent he’s already earned a reputation among his peers-and Scotland Yard-for both good and bad outcomes. But he knows his way is the way of the future so, invited or not, he doesn’t stop until the crime is solved.

His neighbor and lifelong friend, Lady Jane, is a frequent companion with a great interest in Charles’ activities and well-being. Readers will wonder if something deeper is developing between these two and it very well may be. Seeing the relationships between characters develop over time is one of the great joys of reading a good book series!

Along the way readers are treated to a fun education in Victorian England. If you are a history buff as well as a lover of a good mystery, this one’s very entertaining and definitely a page turner. And the good news is, once you turn the last page, there are FOURTEEN more books to go–so far!

The author, Charles Finch (interesting that he has the same first name as his hero, don’t you think?) seems to be taking a break from writing but I hope more books will join the series in the future.

A good series will not only entertain you with each individual book’s story (in this case, a mystery) but will also use each book to flesh out and build the character’s relationships. Some series seem to take forever to do that. In part this can be because each book follows quickly on the timeline of the last so not as much can occur in that amount of time. The Charles Lenox mysteries expand their timelines just enough that we can begin to live our protagonist’s life with him and the author can really develop a well fleshed out character with a full life.

Along with Lady Jane there are several other recurring characters whose stories, though minor, are often compelling. You’ll find yourself hoping to see how they are doing in each new book. Definitely a good sign for any series.

And of course, this is an historical series, so the opportunity to learn about the era in a very entertaining way is always there. As well as learning about the early days of detection, when the detective was not what he/she is today and their tools were far more limited. That means our author needs to be more creative with the story and characters, unable to lean on science for quick answers. Which of course makes for a very entertaining read, that, lucky for us readers, can last a long time with this intriguing series.