This is the fifteenth entry in this long running series that began with A Beautiful Blue Death. That first book was published in 2008 and Finch went on to create an excellent historical mystery series.
This title has everything that readers look for in Finch’s books. Lenox has a complex case to solve, and of course will do so. Perhaps even more enjoyable though, is spending time with the characters, including Lenox’s wife Lady Jane, and other family members and friends.
This book will be welcomed by those who favor historical mysteries. Those who already know the series will be delighted. Those new to it will be happy to discover the backlist after reading this one.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press-Minotaur Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 04 November 2025
Post first published on 5 January 2026
Description:
from the publisher
NAMED ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST‘S TEN BEST MYSTERY NOVELS OF 2025 and THE LOS ANGELES TIMES’ BEST FALL MYSTERIES!
Against the vividly drawn backdrop of Victorian London, amateur sleuth Charles Lenox must unlock a mystery concealed in the architecture of the city itself, in this new novel from acclaimed author Charles Finch.
It’s 1879, and Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern which leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class.
At the same time, Lenox must contend with the complexities of his personal life: a surprising tension with his steadfast wife, Lady Jane, over her public support of the early movement for women’s suffrage; the arrival of Angela Lenox, a mysterious young cousin from India, with an unexpected companion; the dizzying ascent of his brother, Sir Edmund Lenox, to one of the highest political posts in the land; the growing family of his young partners in detection, Polly and Dallington; and the return of the problems that have long bedeviled one of his closest friends, the dashing Scottish physician Thomas McConnell.
Featuring a beloved cast of characters, a top-notch puzzle, and Finch’s trademark humor and richness of historical detail, The Hidden City is a novel by a master at the top of his form.
From the Publisher:
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 