Charles Finch (born 1980) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and literary critic. He has written a series of

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

s set in

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

England, as well as literary fiction and numerous essays and book reviews.

Life and career

Finch was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

the son of the art critic Charlie Finch. He graduated from

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he majored in English and History. He also holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Renaissance English Literature from Merton College, Oxford. He is the grandson of American artist and writer Anne Truitt. His first published novel, '' A Beautiful Blue Death'', introduced gentleman sleuth Charles Lenox. The book was named one of

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

’s Best Books of 2007 and was nominated for the Agatha Award for best new mystery of 2007. ''

The Fleet Street Murders ''The Fleet Street Murders'', by Charles Finch, is the mystery set in London and in northern England in 1867 during the Victorian era. It is the third novel in the Charles Lenox series. Plot summary While gentleman and amateur detective Charl ...

'' came out in 2009 and was nominated for the

Nero Award The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, ...

. ''The Woman in the Water'', released in 2018, is a prequel presenting the beginning of Lenox’s career in detection. The series is published by St. Martin's Minotaur, a division of

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

. Finch's first contemporary novel, ''

The Last Enchantments ''The Last Enchantments'' is a novel by American author Charles Finch. It was published by St. Martin’s Press and released on January 28, 2014. Plot ''The Last Enchantments'' tells the story of American graduate student Will Baker, and his r ...

'', was published by St. Martin's Press in early 2014. He has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'' and regularly writes essays and criticism for ''

'', ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', the ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'', the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. He was a 2014 finalist for the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

's Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, losing to Alexandra Schwartz of

. He won the award in 2017. Finch serves on the curatorial board of the arts colony

Ragdale Ragdale is the former summer retreat of Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw (1869–1926), located in Lake Forest, Illinois. It is also the home of the Ragdale Foundation, an artist residency program that hosts creators from a number of disc ...

and the board of the

Bibliography

Charles Lenox series

*''A Beautiful Blue Death'', 2007 Hardcover **2007 Large print **2008 Paperback **2009 German translation (''Bella Indigo'') **2010 Russian translation (''Прекрасная голубая смерть'') **2011 Audio *''The September Society'', 2008 Hardcover **2009 Paperback **2010 Large print **2010 German translation (''September Society der Club der tödlichen Gentlemen'') **2011 Audio *''The Fleet Street Murders'', 2009 Hardcover **2009 Large print **2010 Paperback **2011 Audio *''A Stranger in Mayfair'', 2010 Hardcover **2011 Audio **2011 Large print **2011 Paperback *''A Burial at Sea'', 2011 Hardcover **2011 Audio **2012 Paperback **2012 Large print *''A Death in the Small Hours'', 2012 Hardcover **2012 Audio **2013 Large print **2013 Paperback *''An Old Betrayal'', 2013 Hardcover **2013 Audio **2014 Large print **2014 Paperback *''The Laws of Murder'', 2014 Hardcover **2014 Audio **2015 Large print **2015 Paperback *''Home by Nightfall'', 2015 Hardcover **2016 Audio **2016 Large print **2016 Paperback *''The Inheritance'', 2016 Hardcover **2016 Audio **2017 Large print **2017 Paperback *''The Woman in the Water'' (prequel), 2018 Hardcover **2018 Audio **2019 Paperback *''The Vanishing Man'' (prequel), 2019 Hardcover **2019 Audio **2021 Paperback *''The Last Passenger'' (prequel), 2020 Hardcover **2020 Audio **2021 Paperback *''An Extravagant Death'', 2021 Hardcover **2021 Audio

Other work

*''The Last Enchantments'', 2014 Hardcover **Paperback **Large print **Audio *''What Just Happened?'', 2021

References

External links

St. Martin's Author ProfileQuestions & Answers with Charles Finch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Charles 1980 births American mystery novelists 21st-century American novelists Living people Writers from New York City Phillips Academy alumni Yale University alumni Alumni of Merton College, Oxford American expatriates in England American male novelists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state)