Books: 'The Woman in the Water'

I recently finished reading The Woman in the Water by Charles Finch.

This is a prequel to the popular Charles Lenox mystery series, set in Victorian London. I had read the first in the series, A Beautiful Blue Death, a few years ago and enjoyed it.

The Woman in the Water is set many years earlier than other books in the series, in 1850. 23-year-old Charles Lenox has recently moved to London with his valet, Graham, with hopes of becoming a private detective. Lenox and Graham are scouring all the daily newspapers for crime news, hoping to uncover a lead. When they identify a possible connection between two deaths occurring a month apart, Lenox approaches Scotland Yard, who reluctantly agree to allow him to work with them on the investigations.

Two women's bodies have washed ashore on the banks of the Thames, both clearly the victims of foul play. The murderer has now written a letter to a newspaper boasting of his "perfect crimes" and hinting that there will be another one soon. Lenox struggles to uncover the identity of each victim, as well as when and where they were killed, trying to determine which clues are genuine and which are deceptions.

Goodreads gives it an average rating of 4.05. I agree with that and definitely plan to read other books in the Charles Lenox series soon.