An Extravagant Death

An Extravagant Death (Charles Lenox, #11)
By: Charles Finch

My favorite part of this book was seeing America circa 1878 through the eyes of an Englishman (Charles Lenox). Part historical fiction, part Sherlock Holmes, and a dash of wit, this book was a fun read for me. I love a good mystery and enjoyed learning some cultural differences between Britain and America during this time period as well as just some interesting facts.

It begins with Charles Lenox being asked by a superior to go to America so that he's out of the country while a trial is underway for the corruption in the Scotland Yard that he was part of uncovering. Being well-known in America, he is roped into investigating a suicide/murder case in ritzy Newport, Rhode Island.

I was not aware of the opulent summer "cottages" of Newport so it was really interesting to google these. And now I'm obviously going to go visit and tour them in person. They would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build today. (And these were second homes!!) You can actually walk the infamous Cliff Walk where the case in question took place so that would be pretty cool.

I love the historical parts of this story and all the descriptions of New York during this time period. It was well-written and reminiscent of Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie's mysteries. Lots of little clues to pick up on that you'll probably miss and then once you know whodunit you'll want to go back and read it again to see what you missed. This seemed a little like a wrap-up book for the series so I'm not sure where the next one will go if there is, indeed, another one to come.

I've never read anything by Charles Finch before so reading this was jumping ahead of a lot of Charles Lenox's life and career. However, it didn't take away from being able to understand and still enjoy this book. I would like to go back and read some of the earlier books so hopefully knowing the future won't ruin any of them for me.

I can't speak too much about character development considering this is book #11. One could argue that Charles Lenox and his wife lacked depth in this book but I'm sure people who've read all the other books would see things differently. I thought Lenox was likable. He meets up again with a woman he had fallen in love with earlier in his life (who is now married to her second husband). I'm assuming that takes place in one of the earlier books. Since I hadn't followed his journey to his current wife and read much about their relationship, part of me held my breath hoping he wasn't going to be unfaithful while away from his wife. But thankfully, he stayed true. Well done, sir.

So anyway. If you are a fan of mystery novels, I would definitely give this one a try!

P.S. A few things I learned while reading this book:

- 'Godmanchester' is pronounced 'Gumster'
- Shrapnel was invented by Lt. Henry Shrapnel
- Saltboxes are a type of house common in colonial America
- Hearing something 'through the grapevine' came to be a thing because there was a tavern during the Civil War called the Old Grapevine where officers often dined and spies were usually lurking around to gather information
- The history behind the 'white elephant' gift exchange- actually gifting white elephants who are notoriously hard and expensive to care for
- At this point in history, Trinity Church in New York was the tallest building in the city
- New York City used to be called New Amsterdam and began with Dutch settlers

**Received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

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