The September Society

The September Society is the second installment in the Charles Lenox series, by young mystery author Charles Finch.  Set in London in 1866, we find ourselves searching for the answers to a murder that has ties to a 1847 murder in India.  Charles Lenox is once again set on the trail, looking for what ties the double murder in India to the murder of a young college boy.

We meet all the same players as we did in A Beautiful Blue Death, including Lady Jane- Lenox's beautiful neighbor for which he has pined over since the moment we met him.  In addition to all the typical players, we meet a new character as well- one who appears to bring a young vibrancy to the mystery novels.  Lord John Dallington is introduced and quickly becomes a young protege to Lenox.  Lenox always works alone, with only bits of help here and there from his most trusted allies.  However, Dallington comes along and Lenox allows him into the investigation- and ultimately, it is Dallington who saves the day.

Does this mean the end of Lenox and the rise of a younger, fresher investigator?  Doubtful.  But it does show promise that Dallington will be a player in the next novel- The Fleet Street Murders.

Once again, Finch kept the reader guessing on every page.  How could murders from 1847 be linked to a murder in 1866?  Why would a young college boy with seemingly no ties to this mysterious 'September Society' go missing- later to be found dead?  And what should we make of these clues- the society seems to play a heavy hand... but why murder a cat, and what do all these professors, students, and society members have in common- or more precisely, what are they all hiding?

As the novel draws to an end and all the pieces of the puzzle come together, we see the large picture for what it truly is.  Lenox has cracked another case, but now it is in his personal life that he will need to pay attention.

A Beautiful Blue Death was a wonderful debut novel, and The September Society did not disappoint.  I can only hope that The Fleet Street Murders will be another nail biting, page flipping, furious reading mystery!

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