read: the charles lenox series

A book is like a garden carried in your pocket.
-- Chinese proverb 

I believe there are different books for different occasions. I can't read certain books before I go to bed - my mind needs to wind-down and relax to ensure a good night's sleep and more importantly, a good tomorrow! But, at the same time I can't be bothered with books I find uninspiring fluff. Enter the Charles Lenox series. 

Set in Victorian England, this series centers around the affable gentleman detective, Charles Lenox. In these books, there's enough suspense and story-line to keep me interested, enough history and period details to satisfy my enjoyment of both, and none of the gore and macabre that many murder mysteries contain. 

In the most recent book in the series, "A Burial at Sea" we follow Charles Lenox on a secret mission to the newly built Suez canal in Egypt, leaving behind London - the setting for most of the other novels - for a journey aboard one of Her Royal Majesty's ships, the Lucy. It's an excellent environment for a mystery - very Murder on the Orient Express - in that all of the suspects are in a confined location.

In a particularly poignant part of "A Burial at Sea", towards the end of the story, Charles is reflecting upon his long journey. Finch writes that Lenox, "felt a certain gladness that the world was still a large place; it was getting smaller, it be sure, distances were collapsing -- why, the Suez was an example of that! ... Though he loved progress, part of him hoped the steamship wouldn't make Egypt a mere two-day voyage away, and take that feeling of majesty with it." I think this idea is something we all feel even today when distances have no doubt collapsed greatly. 

All of the Charles Lenox books have been a pleasure to read - I think you'll feel the same. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, and hopefully the wait won't be too long.