WHO SLAYS THE WICKED is book
14 in the long-running Sebastian St.
Cyr series by historical mystery author C.S. Harris. I adore this
series, and it is one of the few murder mystery books for which I
impatiently wait all year for the upcoming book release. There's a
wealth of historical detail that sites these stories firmly and deftly in
their Regency time period. St. Cyr is a compelling hero and investigator.
His wife, Hero, is a fantastic character in her own right. Typically she is
more of an important character in the solving of these mysteries, and I
was disappointed that she is more in the background this time.
Part of the enjoyment for me in these books is the vast
interconnectedness of the cast of characters. The ton is really not all
that big when you look at the major players in English aristocracy and in
English politics. So many of them hate each other too, and it's jolly
good fun to watch them scheme against each other. Much of
Sebastian's family disdains him as well, and the interpersonal jostling
between the parents and siblings and in-laws is vastly entertaining. I
don't know that I'd make a very good co-conspirator in a murder
because I couldn't keep everything straight, so kudos to Sebastian's
family and father-in-law for managing to keep so many of the secrets
that they have!
Sebastien has personal reasons to hate the prime murder victim in WHO SLAYS THE WICKED, a vicious
viscount who married and sexually tortured Sebastian's niece.
Sebastian believes the viscount to be guilty of the unspeakable killings
of numerous children, discovered during some of St. Cyr's detective
work last year. If not for the fact that Sebastian is terrified that his
niece was the killer, he'd happily send the dead man off the devil. But
Sebastien must dodge Russian assassins, English killers-for-hire, and
his own horrid family in his attempts to unravel the series of killings
stalking Mayfair and beyond. There are plenty of glorious red herrings
and political intrigue. Harris' WHO
SLAYS THE WICKED melds rich historical detail with a riveting
mystery, providing plenty of twists and a panoply of suspects.
The death of a fiendish nobleman strikes close to home as
Sebastian St. Cyr is tasked with finding the killer to save
his young cousin from persecution in this riveting new
historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling
author of Why Kill the Innocent....
When the handsome but dissolute young gentleman Lord
Ashworth is found brutally murdered, Sebastian St. Cyr,
Viscount Devlin, is called in by Bow Street magistrate Sir
Henry Lovejoy to help catch the killer. Just seven months
before, Sebastian had suspected Ashworth of aiding one of
his longtime friends and companions in the kidnapping and
murder of a string of vulnerable street children. But
Sebastian was never able to prove Ashworth's complicity. Nor
was he able to prevent his troubled, headstrong young niece
Stephanie from entering into a disastrous marriage with the
dangerous nobleman.
Stephanie has survived the difficult birth of twin sons. But
Sebastian soon discovers that her marriage has quickly
degenerated into a sham. Ashworth abandoned his pregnant
bride at his father's Park Street mansion and has continued
living an essentially bachelor existence. And mounting
evidence--ranging from a small bloody handprint to a woman's
silk stocking--suggests that Ashworth's killer was a woman.
Sebastian is tasked with unraveling the shocking nest of
secrets surrounding Ashworth's life to keep Stephanie from
being punished for his death.
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