Charles Finch is a master craftsman of the mystery genre. His characters are always sharply drawn, and his protagonist, Charles Lenox, is an astute detective and a grand humanitarian of his age.In this newest foray into the underworld of Victorian London, Lenox is faced with several challenges: first of all, he and his erstwhile protégé, John Dallington, have opened their own detection agency along with Polly Buchanan, aka Mrs. Strickland, and Monsieur Lemaire, a noted French detective; and secondly, Lenox, while successfully rounding up a half dozen criminals who had escaped the law while he was in Parliament, is unfortunately having a difficult time finding clients, mainly as the result of bad publicity from Scotland Yard.The mystery begins with the shocking news that Thomas Jenkins, an Inspector of the Yard and a former colleague and friend to Lenox, is found murdered in front of the home of the Marquess of Wakefield, a man Lenox believes to be one of the most evil in all of England. While Lenox is convinced that this man is the guilty party, he must tread carefully because of Wakefield's position in society, a theme that the author has explored in other novels. When Wakefield himself is found murdered, Lenox must begin again looking for an elusive killer.Finch scatters clues throughout the story and strings them together masterfully toward his conclusion. In the midst of this crafting of the mystery, he intrigues the reader with many little historical asides, such as the reference to the Field of the Cloth of Gold and the Tractarians of Oxford University. An intriguing tidbit outlining a means of murder using litharge of gold tantalizes the mystery buff.The author continues to delight the reader with the relationship between Lenox and his wife, Lady Jane. In an experimental mood, Charles asks her how she would kill him if she wanted to, and she replied "I'd have elephants stomp you." We also again meet Dr. Thomas McConnell and his wife, Toto, as well as Graham, Lenox's one-time butler and valet who now serves in Parliament.Charles Finch's voice, his writing style, continues to flourish with the perfection of multiple phrases moving passages along in a fluidity that just sits on the edges of the reader's mind. When we finally come to the end of the book, we are grateful for the time spent in his company.This mystery is yet another tour de force. Bravo!