I’ve read all of Charles Finch’s Lenox series and even interviewed the author years ago, and while An Extravagant Death is my favorite, Midnight in the House of Commons is right up there. Set in Victorian London, this latest Lenox mystery delves into a scandalous murder in Parliament, a case with a missing fiance, and problems on the home front. Never a moment’s rest.
It is 1881, and Charles Lenox is called when the body of a member of the House of Commons, Robert Baddeley, is found poisoned on the premises. Baddeley was a notorious womanizer, and the powers that be call Lenox in to hush up the scandal and find the culprit. Twists and turns abound as Lenox uses his detective agency, with Lord Dallington and Polly, to follow the clues. When a member of his family is implicated, Lenox is pressured to find the solution.
In a parallel case, Lenox is called upon to find the missing fiance of a young woman who comes to him for help.
Lenox’s wife, Lady Jane, is dealing with her project to get the vote out to women while supervising the broken heart of their ward, Sari, and the appearance of a young relative with unique problems.
It’s a fun romp through the ballrooms, rising detective agency, streets of London, downstairs servants, and old friends in the series. And there is a hint that Lenox may need to make another trip to America in the future.
The characters in this series are wonderful, and Charles Lenox seems like an old friend. Finch is so comfortable in writing about this world and these people from various levels of Victorian society, that readers feel like they are right there on the streets of the city and in the elegant houses. The plot pacing is excellent, the period descriptions are accurate, and the Victorian Age with all its class distinctions is a glorious character.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read this novel for an honest review.
Midnight in the House of Commons will be available from Minotaur Publishing on November 3, 2026, in ebook, hard cover, and audiobook.