Another Flashback

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog addressing one of the major issues I've encountered with book series that add a prequel to the series. A prequel should give the reader a glimpse of the characters, and what made them who they are, before book one of the series began. Under the hands of a skillful writer, the characters will progress and grow through the series. Too often, however, the prequel introduces a character that is more like book 13 rather than pre-book 1.

Charles Finch has entered a stand-out addition to a list of other series' prequels, in Woman in the Water.

Finch introduced us to Charles Lenox in 2007. A Victorian era sleuth, Charles Lenox is a second son with a desire to serve in Parliament, a love of foreign locales, and a special relationship with his next door neighbor, Lady Jane Gray. As he solves mysteries through the years, he is finally elected to Parliament, and he and Lady Jane are married. He still loves travel, though he doesn't do it often.

Woman in the Water gives the reader a look into Lenox's beginnings. We learn where he found his love of travel. We see his first interaction with the Inspectors of Scotland Yard. We understand where his relationship with Jane began.

Finch has done a stellar job creating a Victorian London, as always, but a prequel that is truly a prequel is the real treat.