A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch

In this mystery, wealthy, younger son Charles Lenox occupies his time by solving mysteries with more skill than Scotland Yard. He's called upon by his old friend (and transparently-designed love interest) Lady Jane Gray to investigate the death of her former maid, an apparent suicide. Of course, things get tricky very quickly. I thought the plot was handled well and ended up being both inventive and surprising. Lenox himself seems to be modeled mostly on Dorothy Sayer's magnificent Lord Peter Wimsey (with a fair amount of success), with a side of Sherlock Holmes (especially in his predilection for using small facts to draw surprising conclusion) thrown in for good measure. There are parts that get awkward (especially long-winded digressions about why Lenox is such good friends with a woman, or his butler), but it's generally well-done, and I'll be reading more of these books.