Like Lord Peter, Charles Lenox is the younger brother of an aristocrat, in this case a baronet rather than a duke, which provides him with the wealth, social pull, and life of leisure necessary to the amateur detective. In a near embarrassment of riches, he has a Bunter and a Watson: a resourceful valet whose personal loyalty is beyond question, and a dissipated Scottish doctor with a hobby of collecting obscure poisons and a flair for postmortems. He also has a rival/uneasy ally on the force, à la Sugg or Lestrade, in Inspector Exeter, an ambitious if unimaginative policeman, and a romantic interest in Lady Jane Gray, who, despite the unreasonably historic name that no one ever remarks on, is no Harriet Vane.
If you're thinking that this cast of characters makes the novel sound a bit overstuffed, well, it is. In my opinion, Finch would have done better to have introduced Lenox's various sidekicks over the course of the series rather than drop them all into the first book, fait accompli, although in fairness, I suppose he couldn't have been assured that the novel would be successful enough to spawn a series before its publication. Lenox introduces his hero in medias res, having already successfully solved many cases, rather than on his first murder. (In a fit of hubris, he even projects into the future with one character, telling the reader that he will again assist Lenox in a very important case years later.)
The murder victim in this case is of a maid in the home of a prominent politician, and the means is bella indigo, a rare and expensive poison which provides the title of the book. The death is staged as a suicide, but neither Lenox nor McConnell are fooled for a moment, in stark opposition to the legal authorities. Therefore, Lenox is forced to investigate sub rosa, in the face of both the police who are jealous of their jurisdiction and the politician who desires to avoid scandal.
I went back and forth on this book a bit and ended up with an opinion of it a bit on the negative side. The romantic angle is unnecessary and unbelievable: Lenox and Lady Jane have been friends since childhood, neighbors for most of their adult life, and have had a thing for each other basically always. There are no obstacles or misunderstandings that have kept them apart all this time, only the fact that the author wanted a romance in the book so ensured that nothing happened between them for twenty years.
In addition, Finch seems to have a hard time ending the story. Once Lenox has delivered his summation to his admirers, the book keeps stumbling on for six more chapters, as those involved are brought to justice. The main perpetrator meets a sort of poetic-justice comeuppance about which I'm not entirely sure how I feel, given that it seems rather callous to a minor character who gets the raw end of the deal all the way around.
I'll probably give Charles Lenox another chance if and when I find the second installment of the series at Half Price Books and see if Charles Finch's sophomore effort shows improvement.
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