Gone Before Christmas Read online

  Both had been referred to him by friends. Neither had led to more work.

  At the end of the breakfast, some two hours later, after he had spent a great deal of time reminiscing over old town cricket matches with his cousin Homer, he found himself momentarily in a quiet corner of the room with Elizabeth as she donned her overcoat. She was due at a luncheon—straight from one meal to another, she said, and sheepishly added that when she was fat she would have to feign an illness to avoid going out—and Lenox, putting his own cloak on, took the opportunity to ask how she had been, which parties she would be going to . . .

  But suddenly, realizing that they were by chance briefly isolated from everyone else, he said, “Listen here, do you think I’m a fool? About the detective thing. Answer me honestly, Elizabeth—nobody else will. Nobody whose opinion I care for.”

  She gave the question a look of real surprise, and then shook her head, concern in her eyes. “Never, never, never,” she said. She touched his cheek. “I think you are valiant as a lion, Charles. And wondrous affable.”

  Before he had a chance to reply, she had turned away to say her other goodbyes. For his part he did not move for at least ten, fifteen seconds; he could still feel her hand on his cheek.

  About the Author

  Author photograph © Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

  CHARLES FINCH is a graduate of Yale and Oxford. He is the author of the Charles Lenox mysteries, including The Inheritance and A Beautiful Blue Death, which was nominated for an Agatha Award and was named one of Library Journal’s Best Books of 2007, one of only five mystery novels on the list. He lives in Chicago.

  You can sign up for email updates here.

  Also by Charles Finch

  The Last Enchantments

  The Charles Lenox Series

  The Woman in the Water (February 2018)

  The Inheritance

  Home by Nightfall

  The Laws of Murder

  An Old Betrayal

  A Death in the Small Hours

  A Burial at Sea

  A Stranger in Mayfair

  The Fleet Street Murders

  The September Society

  A Beautiful Blue Death

  Thank you for buying this Minotaur Books ebook.

  To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters.

  Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup

  For email updates on the author, click here.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Begin Reading

  Excerpt: Woman in the Water

  About the Author

  Also by Charles Finch

  Copyright Page

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  GONE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Copyright © 2017 by Charles Finch. All rights reserved. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  Excerpt from Woman on the Water © 2017 by Charles Finch

  Cover photograph: Christmas © Wolf Kettler/Arcangel

  ISBN 978-1-250-17341-6 (ebook)

  First Edition: October 2017

  www.minotaurbooks.com

  Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].