The Vanishing Man by Charles Finch

The Vanishing Man: A Charles Lenox Mystery by Charles Finch --- 288 pages including Acknowledgements.

The Vanishing Man is the twelfth book in the Charles Lenox mystery series by Charles Finch; by chronology it is the second book in the trilogy of prequels that Finch is now writing about the early career of his Victorian era sleuth, following after The Woman in the Water, and predating the first book in the original series, A Beautiful Blue Death.

The Vanishing Man finds our hero determined to follow his instinct for detection and continuing his investigative education despite the antagonism of Scotland Yard and the social disapproval of his peers. Lenox would forfeit his status as a gentleman if he "went into trade" (in other words, was paid for his work) so he makes a point of offering his services gratis.

The Duke of Dorset, the third most powerful nobleman in England, reluctantly turns to Lenox for assistance when a painting of his great-grandfather, the 13th Duke, is taken from his private study. The matter is too delicate to confide to the police. The Duke insists on absolute discretion; he's not interested in recovering the picture, he just wants to know who took it. Unfortunately, another theft results in the death of the Duke's valet; and when the Duke is arrested on suspicion of murder, resulting in the very scandal he was trying to avoid.

After much ado, Finch finally gets the truth out of him: Dorset is convinced that the thief is after a much bigger prize: the hidden clue to the whereabouts of a hitherto "lost" play by William Shakespeare. The Dorset family has kept knowledge of this play secret for generations as they tried to unravel the mystery.

Unfortunately, the Dorsets have never been able to solve the riddle. Can Lenox recover the lost painting, find the elusive hidden clue, and solve the riddle?

Among other things, Finch presents a scathing look at how rigid Victorian class and gender structures perverted justice and warped lives.

Click HERE for a Q&A with the author from Criminal Element.com.

Click HERE for the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE for the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE for a review from the Washington Post.

Click HERE for a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

When All The Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz

When All The Girls Have Gone
by Jayne Ann Krentz
331 pages









When Charlotte is unable to contact her step-sister, Jocelyn, to tell her that one of her closest friends was found dead, she discovers that Jocelyn has vanished. Enter Max Cutler, a struggling PI who recently moved to Seattle and needs a job.
After surviving a near fatal attack, Charlotte and Max turn to Jocelyn's closest friends; women in a Seattle-based online investment club, for answers. But what they find is chilling......

The Execution of Sherlock Holmes by Donald Thomas

The Execution of Sherlock Holmes; And Other New Adventures of the Great Detective by Donald Thomas --- 351 pages

A collection of five novellas by prolific British author and Holmes enthusiast Donald Thomas. These are additional adventures, narrated by Dr. Watson, and set in the reign of Edward VII, under the looming shadow of the approaching Great War.

Old characters from the Conan Doyle canon mix with historical personages and new characters. In the title story Holmes outwits the vengeance of his criminal enemies. In  "The Case of the Greek Key," Holmes deciphers a German military cipher and unmasks a traitor in the admiralty; in "The Case of the Peasenhall Murder," Holmes saves an innocent man from slander and the gallows; in "The Case of the Phantom Chambermaid," Holmes unmasks a murderous rogue and saves the good name of a honest girl; and in "The Queen of the Night," Holmes encounters the villainous Colonel Moriarty for the last time.