
An Extravagant Death
A Charles Lenox Mystery
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Narrated by:
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James Langton
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By:
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Charles Finch
About this listen
"Peppered with fascinating local history, this is a riveting listen for mystery and history lovers alike." (AudioFile Magazine)
In what promises to be a breakout in Charles Finch's best-selling series, Charles Lenox travels to the New York and Newport of the dawning Gilded Age to investigate the death of a beautiful socialite.
London, 1878. With faith in Scotland Yard shattered after a damning corruption investigation, Charles Lenox's detective agency is rapidly expanding. The gentleman sleuth has all the work he can handle, two children, and an intriguing new murder case.
But when Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli offers him the opportunity to undertake a diplomatic mission for the Queen, Lenox welcomes the chance to satisfy an unfulfilled yearning: to travel to America. Arriving in New York, he begins to receive introductions into both its old Knickerbocker society and its new robber baron splendor. Then, a shock: the death of the season's most beautiful debutante, who appears to have thrown herself from a cliff. Or was it a suicide? Lenox’s reputation has preceded him to the States, and he is summoned to a magnificent Newport mansion to investigate the mysterious death. What ensues is a fiendish game of cat and mouse.
Witty, complex, and tender, An Extravagant Death is Charles Finch's triumphant return to the main storyline of his beloved Charles Lenox series - a devilish mystery, a social drama, and an unforgettable first trip for an Englishman coming to America.
A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books
©2021 Charles Finch (P)2021 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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The story is complex and is the only one in this series that I have not guessed. As in the other volumes, Finch does a good job of weaving in interesting historical facts—in this book perhaps more subtly than in others. While I particularly enjoyed some of the feminist themes in this book (and that have been emerging over the past several books) the female characters continue to be a bit one-note and dominated by physical description, even when the set up is so masterfully crafted as to give me great hope of their potential, they’re always pale and pointless in contrast to the vibrant and interesting male characters. It’s hard to be as emotionally invested in Jane as one is in Edmund or Graham, or even the Irish valet, for example.
There is notably less humour in this book than in others in the series, but I think that must be attributable to the focus on the cultural differences between an Englishman and an American. As a result, I found myself less emotionally involved in the outcome, which is interesting in itself. The humour must endear me to characters in the previous novels in this series.
One of the aspects of Finch’s writing that I particularly enjoy is that he doesn’t wrap it all up on the reveal but instead takes a few chapters to contextualize the events. In this particular novel that is handled less deftly and both the beginning and the end feel a bit disjointed for the flashbacks and expository visits, but my loyalty to the series is not daunted just feels like maybe he didnt take as much time to stitch it together or had a lesser editorial team on this one.
Newport geography was a bit off, from the standpoint of where hills and sea are and what views one would have seen in this era, given the level of construction and maturity of the fine gardens, but that’s not particularly relevant to the plot. I look forward to returning to London or wherever the next adventures of Charles Lennox may lead.
Actor much improved
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As always, SUPER!!
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Another winner!
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I held off listening to An Extravagant Death until I had my first vaccination as a guard against COVID. It seemed appropriate that if I became ill at least I would have the comfort of another of Charles Finch’s wonderful tales of Charles Lenox and his extraordinary investigative skills.
It is no surprise that An Extravagant Death is filled with very interesting history, clearly Finch spent long hours of research to accomplish a well written mystery that not only entertains but educates the reader of times long past. I am glad he ventured to the USA. I rarely write reviews and dislike the synthesized versions so refrain from details about the plot. Suffice it to know that it will be well worth the time invested to enjoy this Finch’s latest in this wonderful series. I just wish Lenox was not aging so rapidly!
Another Successful Lenox Mystery
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London Brit In Connecticut
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