The Hidden City
The Hidden City (Charles Lenox #12)
By: Charles Finch
[Fulfills prompt: ‘A book with a city on the cover’ for the Shelf Reflection 2026 Reading Challenge]
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2025]
I’m not sure I’ve quite done this series justice because of all the jumping around I’ve done, but I did find this particular book in this series pretty anti-climactic.
I read book 11— An Extravagant Death— five years ago, not realizing it was that far along in the series. I liked it a lot so I decided to start back at the beginning. So later that year I read the first book— A Beautiful Blue Death. Then I didn’t read the second one— The September Society— until two years after that. And now here I am three years later reading book twelve.
I don’t necessarily think that the large gaps in reading is what caused my disappointment in this book.
This book takes place right after Lenox returns from America having solved the crime in Newport and now recovering from his stab wounds. There were not really any other ties plot-wise that you would need to know to understand the book.
Characters and history might feel a little ambiguous if you’re only starting with this one, though, so I would start as far back as you can to truly get to know the main character and his circle of people.
What caused my disappointment was just the lack of plot in general.
There are a few threads we follow in The Hidden City.
First, we have Lenox’s relatives coming to live with them from India. His cousin died and his two daughters (well, one is basically adopted) made the journey back. I thought there was going to be something mysterious about their dealings once they got back but I guess this was just part of developing the home-life of Lenox and Jane.
Second, to give something for Jane to be up to we have her participating in the suffrage movement, protesting for the woman’s vote. I thought that was an interesting piece to include in their story, but Finch got the slogans wrong for this era. ‘Our Bodies, Our Minds’ was more second wave feminism in the 60s than in the 1800s.
Third, the primary crime was someone continuously attempting to break into the house of his old housekeeper. The previous owner of the house (several years prior) had been murdered. Lenox has to figure out who is trying to break in and why— did it have to do with the previous murder?
Well, he kinda figures that out halfway through the book. And at that point, I still didn’t understand what that had to do with a hidden city. What were we going to do with the rest of the book?!
Things continue to come to light because of Lenox’s curiosity and we discover the hidden city has something to do with a string of murders.
I won’t give away how it’s all connected but there really isn’t any big solve (the culprit reveals themself to Lenox) or capture (people escape from jail or just run away and that’s that) or justice for either ‘mystery.’ It all just kinda ends like- ‘Welp. Now we know who it was.’
I was surprised by the catalyst for everything and it’s sad and in a weird way there was justice, but overall, it all seemed rather dull.
I do like the 1800s Victorian London setting and the Sherlock type vibes, but this one just didn’t have enough going on for me. It is definitely a forgettable novel. One you could probably just skip over if you’re reading the whole series.
The only thing you need to know from this book is that now Angela and Sari are there, Jane is a suffragist, and Lenox is healed.
I also think the title and blurb of the book are misleading. Goodreads says Lenox is investigating “a mystery hidden in the architecture of the city itself” which sounds very intriguing— a little like a National Treasure story or a Dan Brown type of book, but the only thing ‘hidden’ in the architecture is just a weird symbol carved on the step of several buildings. That’s it. There’s no clue-finding or treasure hunt around the city, no secret passages or historical narrative that connects everything in the way you might expect with a description like that.
Some reviewers called this book gripping— that seems like a rather generous word.
For me, the most compelling part of the book was the last chapters where the ‘culprit’ told Lenox the story of everything. While that was engaging, I prefer books that engage me throughout the book with the action, not with one character’s verbal explanation.
I think ‘immersive’ may be an appropriate word. It was a slow and anti-climactic but you definitely get a picture of life during that time for the various classes and what some of the seedier sectors entailed.
If I had to pick a favorite part of this book I think I would pick Lord Carbury: “twenty years old and rather handsome. Also the most dramatically ill-informed person Lenox knew.” I found his character to be the most entertaining and always enjoyed when he was part of the scene. Lenox’s interactions and opinion of him were pretty funny.
Random questions:
At one point in the story the girls play “a complicated rummy-like card game called Monopoly Deal” and I looked it up because that felt wrong— isn’t Monopoly Deal a modern game?? Google couldn’t give me any information about this. Was this a typo (I’m reading an ARC) or is there really a game from the 1800s called Monopoly Deal?
Angela says adamantly that she will NEVER marry. I don’t think we ever got an reason behind this declaration. Is that coming in the next one? Because she gets a suitor in this book and seems serious about it so not sure what changed her mind.
Recommendation
While I do recommend this Charles Lenox series as a whole— especially for those who enjoy Victorian mysteries— I think this book can just be skipped. It’s not that interesting, the solving of the mystery is dull and incomplete, and the title and description is misleading.
Book 13— Midnight in the House of Commons— is releasing in a couple months and that one looks like it will be better and will fit the more normal type of story you get with a Charles Lenox Mystery.
Although—Sidenote— I am a bit confused because The Hidden City made it seem like the next book was going to take place in the Western United States when Lenox goes with Graham on an assignment. We’re just going to skip over that part? The next book is in London. That seems disappointing; why end this book with that revelation if that’s not where we’re going next. Was Charles Finch ill when he wrote this book?!
At some point I still need to read the other 8 books in the series I haven’t read yet but I’ll probably read the newest one first.
They are fairly short reads which I think is the right length for this type of mystery.
[Content Advisory: no swearing or violence; the only sexual content is the reference to buggering which I realized I had no idea what that word meant in this era]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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