Ratings5
Average rating3.8
The sitting room looked as familiar as the back of his hand, and immediately Lenox took a liking to the young man who inhabited it. He saw several small artifacts of the missing student’s life---a frayed piece of string about two feet long of the sort you might bind a package with, half of a pulpy fried tomato, which was too far from the breakfast table to have been dropped, a fountain pen, and lastly, a card which said on the front The September Society. . . . In the small hours of the morning one fall day in 1866, a frantic widow visits detective Charles Lenox. Lady Annabelle’s problem is simple: her beloved son, George, has vanished from his room at Oxford. When Lenox visits his alma mater to investigate, he discovers a series of bizarre clues, including a murdered cat and a card cryptically referring to the September Society. Then, just as Lenox realizes that the case may be deeper than it appears, a student dies, the victim of foul play. What could the September Society have to do with it? What specter, returned from the past, is haunting gentle Oxford? Lenox, with the support of his devoted friends in London’s upper crust, must race to discover the truth before it comes searching for him, and dangerously close to home.
Featured Series
8 primary books10 released booksCharles Lenox Mysteries is a 10-book series with 8 primary works first released in 2007 with contributions by Charles Finch and James Langton. The next book is scheduled for release on 5/6/2025.
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I enjoyed this book but it was pretty slow paced for my liking. There were a few details that I figured out and knew what would happen eventually. There was also a lot of political discussions and talk about the clubs that seemed like filler to make the book longer. I lost interest in those parts. Otherwise, it was a good story and even though I knew some things in advance I didn't mind and actually looked forward to the time when it would happen. I'm just giving it 3 stars because of the stuff that didn't seem relevant to the story and made the book drag. I did not mind the parts where he wants to ask Lady Gray to marry him but doesn't for so long because he is insecure. I know some guys who are the same way so it seemed realistic to me.
Charles Lenox, amateur detective. receives a visitor one morning. Lady Annabell is worried about her son who is missing. She has already lost her husband and couldn't bear losing her son as well. She told Lenox her story and when she told Lenox there was a dead cat in the middle of his room, stabbed with a letter opener, he decided to go at once. There he found several other things that seemed odd and one was a card that says “The September Society.” Lenox was sure that Lady Annabelle's son George had left him clues.
Throughout this story, Lenox is caught up in his thoughts about Lady Gray. He wants to ask her to marry him but he is insecure and worried about ruining their friendship. When he sees a man coming from her home he starts to worry that he is too late and she has already chosen another man. There are several times in the story when he sees her and wants to talk to her and ask her to marry him but the time never seems right and there are other people pulling her away.