This is Book Four of the Charles Lenox detective series. Charles is now married to Lady Jane and has been elected to Parliament. Charles & Jane have also combined their two homes into one large home and combined their households. Lots of change for each of them. There is definitely an adjustment period for sure. Charles & Jane have a difficult time sharing their feelings with each other, which doesn't help either of them.
Toto & Thomas have a child, Grace Georgianna, whom they call "George". George's arrival on the scene changes the lives - and marriage - of Toto & Thomas, who are besotted with their baby daughter. (That's the perfect word!) But of course, their insane happiness brings sadness to Charles & Jane. (Oh, if only they would talk to each other!!) Neither Charles or Jane will admit that they do or don't want a child themselves. (But they both do; they just can't admit it.)
With the combining of households, Charles & Jane have two butlers. One has to go. Thankfully, Charles needs a Secretary for Parliament and thankfully, Graham accepts this new unlikely position. He is perfect for the position and Charles, with his constant distractions, should be eternally grateful that Graham keeps him on track! Charles, once again, is completely intrigued by the death of a footman and can't help but investigate this murder which he has been asked to stay out of several times by several people.
Charles is very self-introspective in this book. He is trying to figure out what he wants out of life. He feels a huge responsibility to be in Parliament, but he discovers that it's less exciting than expected and he has less influence than he would like. Plus, he can't seem to give up being a detective. It's really his passion. Unfortunately, even though he is making name for himself with his sleuthing abilities, it's still not a "accepted" line of work in society. So he pretty much agonizes about these two things. And he also spends quite a bit of time feeling depressed about his marriage since they can't seem to talk about the important things.
He does manage to find the time to figure out who murdered the footman, and I thought it was cleverly unveiled. I really didn't know who had murdered him until Charles figured it out. I liked how the story unfolded to a reasonable and plausible ending.
So, moving on to Book Five!
Wendy's Rating: ****
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