Set in Victorian England, Charles Finch’s The Charles Lenox Mystery Series shares the adventures of an English Gentleman who loves a good mystery.
The Charles Lenox mystery series is considered a historical mystery series.
They take place in England in the 1800s. They are a good mix of historical fiction and murder mystery.
This series is not really considered a cozy mystery series, but I think it fits that category because they are not overly graphic or gory. There are murders in the books, with some basic details but nothing overly graphic.
They take place in England, which always makes it more of a cozy mystery to me.
To me, a cozy mystery is a comfort read. It is a book that doesn’t keep you up at night. It is a book that you read when you want to relax and lose yourself in a book.
I also like mystery books that are not overly sexual. This series has very little romance.
There are couples, married and single, but again, nothing too graphic or with too much detail. The author keeps it clean, which is rare in modern fiction and mystery books.
These are books I easily let my kids read when they were younger. My son read quite a few of the books in this series when he was in his mid-teens and enjoyed them. Because they are clean books with interesting characters and plots, they make a great mystery series for teens.
My oldest daughter has also read the first few books in the series. She liked them because the mysteries were more complex than many other mystery books.
I also sent the first few books in the series to my dad a few years ago and he liked them as well.
If you enjoy a good historical fiction book with some decent mystery mixed in, I think you will enjoy these books.
The Charles Lenox Books by Charles Finch (In Order)
A Beautiful Blue Death is book one in the Charles Lenox mystery series. In the first book of the series, you are introduced to the main characters in the series.
Charles helps his good friend, Lady Jane after one of her former servants is found dead.
This book and the entire series involve Victorian England’s upper and lower classes. It is an excellent series if you like Downton Abbey type stories.
The September Society is book two in the series. In this book, a mother asks for Charles’s help finding her son, who has disappeared from Oxford.
The Fleet Street Murders is book three in the series. Two journalists died in violent deaths. Can Charles and Lady Jane Grey solve the murders?
A Stranger in Mayfair is book four in the Charles Lenox mystery series. Charles is now a married man working in Parliament.
After the death of a footman, a colleague asks for Charles’s help solving the murder.
A Burial at Sea is book five in the series. It is one of my favorites in the series.
This book takes you out of England to a ship voyaging to Egypt. Charles is asked by the government to help solve the death of several spies.
A Death in the Small Hours is book six in the series. Charles is now a dad. He is still working in Parliament, but a visit to his uncle’s estate draws him back into the world of solving crimes.
An Old Betrayal is the seventh book in the series. In it, Charles helps a friend solve the murder of a county squire.
The Laws of Murder is book eight in the Charles Lenox series. Charles has given up Parliament and is ready to return to solving crimes. But after taking years off, is he still as good at detective work as he used to be?
Home By Nightfall is the ninth book in the series. A famous pianist disappears. Can Charles Lenox solve the mystery, while also helping his brother grieve?
The Inheritance is the tenth book in the series. In it, a Harrow schoolmate needs Charles’s help, but then he suddenly disappears. Can Charles find him and solve the mystery.
The Woman In the Water is the eleventh book in the series. The Women In the Water is a prequel to the Charles Lenox series. It takes you London when Charles Lenox was a young detective.
The Vanishing Man is the twelfth book in the series. It is set in 1853 London. The Duke of Dorset asks Charles to help solve the mystery of a missing painting.
The Last Passenger was published in 2020. It is the thirteenth book in the series. This one has been in my to be read stack for several years. I need to read it.
An Extravagant Death was published in 2021. It is book fourteen in the Charles Lenox series. This is another one that has been in my to-be-read stack for far too long. I need to read it because book fifteen is being released in 2025.
Have you read any books in the Charles Lenox mystery series by Charles Finch?
Originally Published in March 2021. Updated March 2024.