Charles Finch is a literary critic and author. Born in 1980 (!!) in New York City, he was educated at Yale University and Merton College, Oxford. The first book in his Charles Lynch Mystery Series came out in 2007 and was nominated for an Agatha and chosen as one of Library Journal’s best books. Having loved six of these Charles Lynch novels, I’ve gotta say that I never expected to fall in love again, but I’d run off to England’s lake district with either of the Charleses. Finch gives a beautifully detailed portrayal of mid-nineteenth century England, and his writing is pitch perfect. Detective Charles Lynch is thoughtful, insightful, and competent, but he knows that he’s worth little without his wife, family, and friends. I just emerged from devouring The Last Passenger, and as usual, was immersed in the tiny details of Victorian society’s requirements, characters’ distinct personalities, and Lynch’s visits, meals, and meanderings. I wonder how much of himself the author put into his protagonist, the similarly named Charles Lynch. Charles Finch is on my list of authors-I’d-most-like-to-meet – and it turns out that he also lives in Chicago!

Chronological list of Charles Lynch mysteries:

A Beautiful Blue Death 2007

The September Society 2008

The Fleet Street Murders 2009

A Stranger in Mayfair 2010

A Burial at Sea 2011

A Death in the Small Hours 2012

An Old Betrayal 2013

The Laws of Murder 2014

Home By Nightfall 2015

The Inheritance 2016

Gone Before Christmas 2017

The Woman in the Water 2018

The Vanishing Man 2019

The Last Passenger 2020

An Extravagant Death 2021