In 2013 my mystery book club is reading mysteries that won or were nominated for prizes. In January we will discuss books that won or were nominated for the Agatha. My choice was A Beautiful Blue Death written by Charles Finch, an Agatha Award nominee. It was also named one of the Literary Journal's Best Books of 2007. Finch's detective, Charles Lenox, 
 lives the comfortable life of a Victorian gentleman in London and loves nothing more than to read in front of a roaring fire in his private study. When his lifelong friend, Lady Jane, asks for his help to find the murderer of one of her former servants, he throws his talents and considerable resources into the detective task. A second murder is committed during a society ball where Lenox is a guest and the plot becomes even more complicated. The characters are well developed, the plot in interesting, the backdrop of Victorian London is well-drawn and the writing is excellent. I recommend it to readers of historic mysteries,and cozies in general.