In what promises to be a breakout in Charles Finch's best-selling series, Charles Lenox travels to the New York and Newport of the dawning Gilded Age to investigate the death of a beautiful socialite.

London, 1878. With faith in Scotland Yard shattered after a damning corruption investigation, Charles Lenox's detective agency is rapidly expanding. The gentleman sleuth has all the work he can handle, two children, and an intriguing new murder case.

But when Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli offers him the opportunity to undertake a diplomatic mission for the queen, Lenox welcomes the chance to satisfy an unfulfilled yearning: to travel to America. Arriving in New York, he begins to receive introductions into both its old Knickerbocker society and its new robber baron splendor. Then, a shock: the death of the season's most beautiful debutante, who appears to have thrown herself from a cliff. Or was it a suicide? Lenox’s reputation has preceded him to the States, and he is summoned to a magnificent Newport mansion to investigate the mysterious death. What ensues is a fiendish game of cat and mouse.

Witty, complex, and tender, An Extravagant Death is Charles Finch's triumphant return to the main storyline of his beloved Charles Lenox series - a devilish mystery, a social drama, and an unforgettable first trip for an Englishman coming to America.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

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Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 17 minutes
Author	Charles Finch
Narrator	James Langton
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	16 February 2021
Publisher	Macmillan Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B088RJ567J
Best Sellers Rank	136,889 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1,204 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) 1,604 in Historical Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) 6,196 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)

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Pauline Lloyd

Not quite the best.

Reviewed in Australia on 1 March 2021

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I looked forward to this latest from Charles Finch. I was a bit disappointed. Not as punchy as previous books. I didnt like the American angle at all.
Sorry Charles.

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Pamela

Hope there will be more

Reviewed in Canada on 18 February 2021

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I love this series. This book was a bit of a departure as it is set in America, but still enormously enjoyable. The detailed description of the Astor party was particularly fascinating. I am perturbed that Lenox is thinking about quitting the detective agency....I hope that doesn't mean we've seen the last of him.

Carolyn King

Great authour

Reviewed in Canada on 26 February 2021

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I have all of this author's books!

Patto

Don’t be put off by the leisurely start — this is a first-rate mystery!

Reviewed in the United States on 23 February 2021

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Charles Lenox, British private investigator extraordinaire, doesn’t get a murder to solve until page sixty-nine. It takes that long to find out why the prime minister wants Lenox to make himself scarce for a bit, to follow Lenox on his sea voyage to New York, and to hear his first impressions of America.

But Lenox’s itinerary is interrupted by a summons to Newport, where an elite group of fabulously wealthy Americans spend their summers. A nineteen-year-old society beauty has been found murdered on a beach.

Lenox doesn’t want this problem but finally lets himself be persuaded to investigate. The case exposes him to the over-the-top luxuries and extravagances of the Astors, the Vanderbilts and other privileged people awash in old and new money. Lenox is rich in suspects because beautiful Lily Allingham had dozens of suitors. The investigation turns up a plethora of surprises as well as a few false leads — and Lenox risks his life with his deductions.

The case is intriging, and the portrait of nineteenth-century Newport in season is fascinating. As usual in this series, the author has fun exploring the origins of certain words and phrases (like backlog, shrapnel, and white elephant). I always look forward to these flights of entomology.

It’s true the story starts slowly. But once it gets going, it’s a riveting read.

3 people found this helpful

Reed Read

Missed the regulars

Reviewed in the United States on 20 February 2021

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I enjoyed this book - after all it was a Charles Lenox tale by Charles Finch but. . . it just wasn't quite up to some of the others - or the sum of the others. I missed Lady Jane and John and Polly and most especially Graham, though that all was eventually remedied. The mystery was sufficient though I found the setting kind of out of sync. But there were still the things I love most about these books - the off-handed explanation for words and phrases and how they fell into common usage, Lenox's ponderings and how comfortable it feels to be inside his head. I most especially love his kindnesses to those around him, it's easy to love a character who is loved by his fellow characters. I pre-ordered this book at the first opportunity, then read it in 2 days after it arrived. I suppose I'll probably read the entire series again before the next one comes along. (Sigh) I feel interested/concerned what the next one will bring, as I am sure was the intention.

3 people found this helpful

Erin Hewitt

Wonderful.

Reviewed in the United States on 25 February 2021

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I preordered this at the first available opportunity and when the delivery was delayed by snowstorms in my area I was very unhappy. When it finally arrived I devoured it in a day. And honestly that is usually what happens when a Charles Finch novel appears on my doorstep.
The characters are like family at this point, their triumphs our own to revel in and their defeats ours to shed a tear over. I adore these books and will be despondent at best when they are no longer being written. The historical notes that are slipped seamlessly into the story are interesting and not out of place or forced. The detail is crisp and well written.
If you haven’t yet, I strongly encourage you to start the Charles Lenox series. They’re truly wonderful.

2 people found this helpful

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