NAL Hardcover
Featuring: Lord Oliphant; Sebastian St. Cyr; Hero St. Cyr
352 pages ISBN: 0451417569 EAN: 9780451417565 Kindle: B00KWG61R8 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
The darkness of a London night in 1813 is not a safe place
to be out and about, so why were two young people going
down
the dark winding lane to Bloody Bridge on this ebony
moonless night? They might have been expecting a bit of
fun
and frolic, but what they didn't expect is getting the
shock
of their lives!
Driven from sleep by his reoccurring nightmares, Sebastian
St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin hears the doorbell ring in the
early morning hour; then, a voice speaking with horror to
Morey, his majordomo. Sebastien rushes down. Would he come
to help investigate a vicious murder?
The victim, now recognized by a constable as Mr. Stanley
Preston, a wealthy and socially ambitious cousin to the
Home
Secretary, had been decapitated. Few clues were found
near
the murdered body, other an old metal coffin strap with an
inscription reading "King Charles 1648". How and why did
that strap get to be left there? What is the connection..
if
any at all to the former King?
WHO BURIES THE DEAD is the tenth story in the Sebastian
St.
Cyr Mystery Series written by the best-selling and highly
acclaimed C.S. Harris (aka Candice Proctor who also writes
as C.S. Graham). Following WHY KINGS CONFESS, the story
takes place in London in March of 1813, seven weeks after
Hero has safely delivered a son, called Simon, the future
Earl of Hendon.
Sebastian is a very interesting protagonist. He is a man
with a past he can't forget or forgive himself for and so
is
haunted by nightmares. Even now, happily married and with
a
baby son he loves, he still feels driven to solve murders
for the sake of the victims. This story pits him against
a
former nemesis. Even his father-in-law who stills rues the
day his beloved Hero married St. Cyr is also ready to
murder
Sebastian if any evil or harm befalls Hero and Simon.
Given
these concerns, will Sebastien have the perseverance with
the investigation that puts his family in danger?
One of Harris' many talents is her strong writing style
and
especially her sharp-witted dialogues that are so
wonderful
to read. The rapier-sharp verbal exchanges between
Sabastian and his aunt are a particular delight as well of
his short interactions with the father-in-law he detests.
Like others in the series, WHO BURIES THE DEAD can easily
be
read as a stand-alone mystery, yet, it is an even richer
story for fans who have read some or all of the previous
books.
WHO BURIES THE DEAD is a thrilling, action packed story
with
interesting pauses as Sebastian keeps returning to the
scene
of the crime as he ponders what he is missing in
determining
who the murderer is. After all the compelling reading in
WHO
BURIES THE DEAD, I fully enjoyed the historical note at
the
end of the book that Harris provides -- very interesting
indeed!
Another benefit for those who like learning more about the
Regency time period as much as solving this Regency based
mystery, Harris nicely conveys her research by pointing
out
how unusual it is for Hero to be breastfeeding and caring
for her own baby, especially as she is a wealthy and
titled
member of society while also using Hero's own
investigation
into the lives and work of the costermongers to bring in
more tidbits of interesting information while also
serving
as a plot development. An added bonus is the intriguing
use
of having Jane Austin and her banker brother as secondary
characters and how they were able to add a new wrinkle in
the plot by their involvement in determining the innocence
or not of the unsuitable soldier suitor? Was he the
killer?
Was it a rival collector of footpads?
To find out and/or if you are looking for a dark and
dangerous murder adventure, look no further than WHO
BURIES
THE DEAD!! You will be glad you did!
London, 1813. The vicious decapitation of Stanley Preston,
a wealthy,
socially ambitious plantation owner, at Bloody Bridge
draws Sebastian
St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, into a macabre and increasingly
perilous
investigation. The discovery near the body of an aged lead
coffin
strap bearing the inscription King Charles, 1648 suggests
a link
between this killing and the beheading of the deposed
seventeenth-
century Stuart monarch. Equally troubling, the victim's
kinship to the
current Home Secretary draws the notice of Sebastian's
powerful
father-in-law, Lord Jarvis, who will exploit any means to
pursue his
own clandestine ends.
Working in concert with his fiercely independent wife,
Hero, Sebastian
finds his inquiries taking him from the wretched back
alleys of Fish
Street Hill to the glittering ballrooms of Mayfair as he
amasses a
list of suspects who range from an eccentric Chelsea
curiosity
collector to the brother of an unassuming but brilliantly
observant
spinster named Jane Austen.
But as one brutal murder follows another, it is the
connection between
the victims and ruthless former army officer Sinclair,
Lord Oliphant,
that dramatically raises the stakes. Once, Oliphant nearly
destroyed
Sebastian in a horrific wartime act of carnage and
betrayal. Now the
vindictive former colonel might well pose a threat not
only to
Sebastian but to everything—and
everyone—Sebastian holds
most dear.
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