Maureen P. (jane1817) reviewed on 7/21/2020 + 6 more book reviews

There should not be a separate standard of excellence for historical fiction, and yet I often find that books set in the past may excel at period detail while failing as literary ventures. I've read two of the Charles Lenox series and think I will read no more. They have a workmanlike quality to them - adequate details of time and place, language and material culture - but they lack vigor, naturalism, and immediacy. A lady's dress is described as "blue"; good as far as it goes but where are the rustle of taffeta skirts, the sheen of bombazine, the felted nap of velvet? Hair? It's brown and curls a bit. Hands? Small, warm. By the middle of A Beautiful Blue Death I was longing for freckles, a frayed hem, a bit of lace torn loose from a petticoat and dragging on the ground. What I would have given for a broken nose, bleeding copiously onto a lace jabot! Chipped fingernails, and one that was habitually bitten! For most readers, the shallow waters of Charles Finch's series may be enough. But considering the depth of the author's erudition, I'd like to see more.

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