I can't believe we're already up to book 12 in the
Sebastian
St. Cyr series, with WHERE THE DEAD LIE, by the
fabulous C.S. Harris. This is a fantastic historical murder
mystery series set in London in the Regency. I adore
Harris' writing. Her attention to detail richly evokes the
feel of the time period but is never overdone. Harris'
characters are lushly drawn in all their glorious complexity.
Sebastian is Viscount Devlin, the heir to the Earl of
Herndon. He is a disillusioned ex-soldier who now uses his
cunning and knowledge to solve crimes. He works nominally
on his own, although he has powerful connections given his
aristocratic background. But Sebastian is that rarest of
aristocrats, who has pity and compassion for his not-as-well
well-off fellow man. His wife Hero is the daughter of
Sebastian's enemy, Lord Jarvis, and together the couple work
to expose corruption and protect England's vulnerable.
While the tension between the two provided great
entertainment in the first books, I love them even more
together as fellow crusaders now.
One thing I always enjoy in the Sebastian St. Cyr books
is the sheer interconnectedness of the characters. There
are so many connections from illicit children, secret
lovers, old school chums, and government allies and
enemies. Just keeping up with the winding strands of story
between the characters is intriguing by itself, and it
makes a vast backdrop of complexity upon which each mystery
unwinds. While the book can be read as a one-off, the
reader will enjoy the full richness of the story by reading
the series in order.
To my disappointment, Hero does not play a large role in
investigating this crime of disappearing poor children who are
are tortured and killed. This time, she is involved more in
the raising of their son and with her own work, chronicling
the lives of the poor of London in articles meant to shake
up the aristocracy as to the atrocities committed under
their noses to their own countrymen. Hero's interviews and
her work are a great authorial device for fleshing out
current events of 1813 and provide a marvelous social
commentary.
As always, Harris provides us with a number of viable
suspects, plenty of gruesome action, and tension that can
be cut with a knife. I will gobble up anything that Harris
writes because I know it will be spellbinding. Harris'
WHERE THE DEAD LIE is a satisfying historical mystery that
is engrossing 'til the last page is turned.
In the latest mystery from the national bestselling author of When Falcons Fall, the gruesome murder of a young boy takes Sebastian St. Cyr from the gritty streets of London to the glittering pleasure haunts of the aristocracy... London, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is no stranger to the dark side of the city, but he’s never seen anything like this: the brutalized body of a fifteen- year-old boy dumped into a makeshift grave on the grounds of an abandoned factory. One of London’s many homeless children, Benji Thatcher was abducted and tortured before his murder—and his younger sister is still missing. Few in authority care about a street urchin’s fate, but Sebastian refuses to let this killer go unpunished. Uncovering a disturbing pattern of missing children, Sebastian is drawn into a shadowy, sadistic world. As he follows a grim trail that leads from the writings of the debauched Marquis de Sade to the city’s most notorious brothels, he comes to a horrifying realization: someone from society’s upper echelon is preying upon the city’s most vulnerable. And though dark, powerful forces are moving against him, Sebastian will risk his reputation and his life to keep more innocents from harm...
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