“Burial at sea” by Charles Finch, follows Charles Lennox on his adventures in nineteenth century Britain, as he is asked to travel to Egypt and meet up with a French contact—a high-ranking official . The outcome of Lenox’s journey impacts whether there would be a war between Britain and France. But Lenox’s problems start much sooner, as serial murders begin happening on the ship he is traveling to Egypt on. The first thing that stood out for me about the story, were the characters. The lead character, Charles Lenox, is very noble and courageous. When he’s asked by his brother, Edmund, to travel to Egypt on a British intelligence assignment, he doesn’t hesitate. He leaves his pregnant wife, Jane Grey, at home and jumps aboard a ship with the deceptively innocent name “Lucy.” There he meets a whole set of interesting characters: Captain Jacob Martin, first lieutenant Billings, second lieutenant Halifax, third lieutenant Carrow, chaplain Rogers, surgeon Tradescant, engineer Quirke, and purser Pettegree. Within a couple of days, some of these men will be murdered. And the murderer will be one of the men aboard the ship. What complicates Lenox’s journey, is that not only does he have to fear for his safety, but also that of his nephew Teddy, who is also aboard and on his first sea voyage. But as the murders continue, and the mysterious killer threatens mutiny, Lenox does not know if his sleuthing skills will be enough to save them all. Most of this book takes place during the sea voyage. But my favorite part of this book is actually after the killer is unmasked and Lenox’s life is in peril. There’s a lot of action particularly at the end of this book. Overall though, this is a very well researched story. Historical fiction is especially hard to write, and Finch deserves credit for quite naturally being able to pull the reader into the atmosphere of a nineteenth century sea voyage aboard a British ship. Recommended for fans of historical fiction or mysteries in general. Published by Minotaur Books. November 2011. 320 pages. List price $24.99
