The September Society

This is the second in the series of Victorian detective novels featuring Charles Lenox, a 40ish man who had always thought to follow his grandfather, father and brother into Parliament, but somehow hasn't got 'round to standing for a seat so far. He's come to accept that sleuthing suits him, and that perhaps he should really consider proposing to his dearest and oldest friend, Lady Jane Grey. In the midst of an increasingly alarming missing persons case, however, the moment never feels quite right and he may have left it too long... I remember reading the first Lenox outing, A Beautiful Blue Death, and thinking this is a series with great promise, love the characters and the setting, and here's a gentleman doing what Sherlock Holmes show more claimed to have invented, some 30 years earlier and without the benefit of that 7% solution. The second entry in the series is even better than I expected. Set mainly among the colleges of Oxford, this is not just a grand mystery, but also a fine bit of historical fiction. I'm well and truly hooked now. Review written in 2017 show less

Charles Lenox's latest case takes him back to Oxford, his alma mater. The only son of Lady Annabelle Payson has disappeared. He is a student at Lincoln College. One name keeps cropping up in Lenox's investigation: The September Society, a military organization with a select membership. What is the society's interest in George? Soon murder is added to Lenox's list of problems to be solved. The demands of the case leave Lenox little time to address the other matter weighing on his mind: his undeclared love for his dear friend and next door neighbor, Lady Jane Grey.

I've quickly grown fond of Charles and Lady Jane in the first two books in this series. They're intelligent, decent, and interesting people, and it's a pleasure to spend time show more with them. Charles is also an avid reader and it's always fun to see the titles on his current reading list. I've always loved working puzzles, and puzzles formed a part of the mystery in this installment. I’m not sure how I feel about the potential business partner introduced in this book. While he proved himself useful, I think Lenox's circle of friends is already large enough to provide aid when circumstances require it, including his valet, Graham, his friend, physician Tom McConnell, his brother Edward, a member of Parliament, and his acquaintance Jenkins in Scotland Yard. I'm not sure another assistant is necessary.

One of the characters introduced in the first book is a villain who is currently beyond justice. This individual was mentioned a few times in the second book. It looks like this subplot is a feature of the series, but right now it's not enough of a hook to draw me back to the series on its own strength. Lenox, Lady Jane, and the Victorian London setting are the characteristics of the series that will keep me coming back for more. show less

This entire review is one long spoiler. Don't read it if you don't want to know important things.

Jesus God, Charles, MAN UP AND ASK HER TO MARRY YOU! I got very, very, very tired of his pussfied wishywashying about whether or not to ask this perfectly lovely long-term widow, who **moved next door to him** after her husband died, if she would consent to marry him. Dude...she's been WAITING for you to do it for like ten years!! She's never even looked at another man! HELLO?!?

Yeeesh.

So he does, after yet another book's-worth of annoying shillyshallying, and she says yes (gasp), and I lost all interest in the series. I just do not care a whit about this charming, adorable, suffocatingly cozy world any more.

Oh...this mystery is set largely show more in Oxford, which is always lovely, and the London bits that don't involve the romantic idiocy were set in a nasty club of murdering swine, the September Society, who were covering up their illicit possession of a huge hoard of gems that they'd killed this one kid's father to protect the secret of its existence. Only they didn't, see, because he fooled 'em good! He hid for 20 years to protect his abused wife and newborn son!

Oh God. Who the hell cares. I read it, I swear, from cover-to-cover, and I wondered as I read WHY I felt I needed to finish it. Charles Finch has some voodoo or another that made me want to finish it up.

I did. Poke me with a fork, I'm done now. For good.

If you need a cozy fix, and you're more wimp-tolerant than I am, go on and read it. Otherwise, Xanax is a better tranq and peyote takes you on a better trip. show less

I simply adore historical mysteries and the world that Finch evokes in his Charles Lenox series is really well done. It takes a while in the story to pin down the date and Finch does it very well by having Lenox read a newspaper article about the search for John Surratt in the wake of Lincoln's death.

Lenox is a gentleman based in London but much of the action in this mystery is in Oxford with a connection to prior events which happened in India. In fact, the mystery hinges on a society made up of officers who previously served in India, the September Society. There is a murder and plenty of people with their own motivation for keeping secrets hidden.

A well written story with a likeable detective, a bit of romance, and action which takes show more the reader back to London and Oxford in the mid 1800s and to the British in India a few decades prior to that. show less

I had to look up where Charles Finch was as a student because this book has one of the warmest, most realistic accounts of what it feels like to study at Oxford that I've ever read. Sure enough, the author read English at Oxford (I'm guessing Balliol or Merton) and he currently resides in the city. I'll briefly mention that reading about a place you've lived and studied in is like coming home and nothing beats this feeling of comfort and move on to the plot and characters. I was first of all surprised that Charles decided very early on in the novel to propose to Lady Jane. While the first book made it clear those two loved each other, I wouldn't have said they were in love, and it's a little surprising to have their relationship change show more so quickly - after all, we are told repeatedly in the first book that their devoted friendship, however peculiar, is accepted as such by themselves and society at large. I liked that unconventional bond and didn't warm up to the idea of marriage straight away. Luckily, there are many books left ahead to convince me that it was a necessary turn of events. The end of the book is very lovely for Charles seeing as he has new career prospects, which I'm very curious to see enfold (how will that affect his detective work?). The characters are very well-drawn and frankly charming (I want to see more of Graham) and Charles' musings are smart and heartfelt, which makes him one of the most endearing characters I've met. The plot is uneven, I find - I guessed the motive straight away and it's frustrating to have to wait for the resolution to be told that one was right all along. On the other hand, I would never have guessed the various twists and turns the story took and the myriad vivid characters and clever clues that were scattered were deeply engaging and kept me riveted. This is a really good installment in the series and I felt a little sad to find out that the main detective has resolved many a murder since the first book which the author simply alludes to but doesn't develop. It felt very Sherlockian in this way and I can only hope that a book of stories is in the works for at least some of those cases. This is a really good series I plan to see through until the end (not too soon, pretty please, I'm enjoying it too much!) show less

I do so love historical fiction and when you add a mystery, I am a relatively contented reader. This second installment in the Charles Lenox mystery series is well written and each of the characters is well developed. The setting is Victorian England, 1866 London and Oxford. What begins as a search for a missing person soon becomes a much greater tragedy with roots going back 19 years. The tension is sustained throughout the story and comes to a satisfying conclusion.

I have to admit that I am a bit late to reading this series. Having read the three prequels initially, I am now starting the series from its beginning installments and am very much enjoying it.

The September Society by Charles Finch. It would be easy to dismiss this two-book series as yet another featuring an amateur aristocrat sleuth in Victorian England (1866), but the quality of Finch’s writing makes these Charles Lenox adventures stand out above many others. Finch provides detailed scene descriptions without taking away from the action of the complex mysteries. The supporting characters: Graham, the butler, McConnell, the doctor, and Lady Jane Grey, the neighbor and beloved friend, provide elements of humor and romance to the stories that are usually positive contributions. Lenox’s hesitancy and shyness around Jane may seem like to abrupt a character change compared to his typically decisive investigative nature, but show more others may view it as making Lenox a more-developed lead actor.
This second adventure finds Lenox returning to his university at Oxford to investigate a student’s disappearance. The clues eventually lead him to The September Society, a secretive club for officers who served in one specific battalion of Her Majesty’s army in India twenty years earlier. Lenox suspects that members of the club are behind the young man’s abduction, but struggles to find a motive. The action is split between London and Oxford and Finch uses his own knowledge as a student there to expand upon the history of the town and the many colleges that make up the community.
Despite my enjoyment of the mystery, I don’t think this tale is as strong as the Agatha Award-nominated first book, A Beautiful Blue Death. The plot gets a bit convoluted at the end with too many cases of hidden identities and red herrings. I also thought the romantic subplot was distracting and did not add to the story. I did like the addition of an apprentice detective. Based on the flurry of activity that happens after the case is solved, it appears that Lenox’s personal lifestyle will be undergoing major changes in the near future. It will be interesting to see how these changes affect his ability to continue as a detective.

For all my book and movie reviews, please visit my blog at http://unsetalarmclock.wordpress.com/ show less