#20 Sebastian St. Cyr
Historical Mystery
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 4.15.25
Pages: 384
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
The gruesome murder of a prominent nobleman throws an already unsettled London into chaos in this electrifying new historical mystery by the USA Today bestselling author of What Cannot Be Said.
August 1816. England is in the grip of what will become known as the Year Without a Summer. Facing the twin crises of a harvest-destroying volcanic winter and the economic disruption caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the British monarchy finds itself haunted by the looming threat of bloody riots not seen since the earliest days of the French Revolution. Amidst the turmoil, a dead man is found hanging upside down by one leg in an abandoned chapel, his hands tied behind his back. The pose eerily echoes the image depicted on a tarot card known as Le Pendu, the Hanged Man. The victim—Lord Preston Farnsworth, the younger brother of one of the Regent’s boon companions—was a passionate crusader against what he called the forces of darkness, namely criminality, immorality, and sloth. His brutal murder shocks the Palace and panics the already troubled populace.
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, learns of the murder from a ragged orphan who leads him to the corpse and then disappears. At first, everyone in the dead man’s orbit paints Lord Preston as a selfless saint. But as Sebastian delves deeper into his life, he quickly realizes that the man had accumulated more than his fair share of enemies, including Major Hugh Chandler, a close friend who once saved Sebastian’s life. Sebastian also discovers that the pious Lord Preston may have been much more dangerous than those he sought to redeem.
As dark clouds press down on the city and the rains fall unceasingly, two more victims are found, one strangled and one shot, with ominous tarot cards placed on their bodies. The killer is sending a gruesome message and Sebastian is running out of time to decipher it before more lives are lost and a fraught post-war London explodes.
Sophia Rose's Review:
“When the War is Over” always seemed like a melancholy song to me, but it was running through my head most of this book because Who Will Remember? addresses what comes of the soldiers and sailors who came home from the Napoleonic War, a country unstable economically after the war, and also a whole world reeling under ‘The Year Without Summer” when a giant volcanic event occurs on the far side of the world. CS Harris took this multi-layered historical backdrop and wove in a clever murder mystery for Sebastian and his friends to solve.
Who Will Remember? is the twentieth book in this lush and fabulous historical murder mystery series. There are subtle side plots carrying through the series and great character and relationship developments so that this series really should be read in order.
Sebastian learns of a bizarre murder when an Irish youth comes for him when the boy learns the crumbling old chapel he took shelter in from the rain was already occupied by a murdered man. Sebastian and Sir Henry Lovejoy begin their investigation with the largest piece of evidence is a strong tie to the Tarot deck. Their victim is apparently a saint to most people- Sebastian excluded. He suspects any man who would show the vindictiveness toward his wife who left him for another man can’t be all that saintly. Not long into the investigation, Sebastian suspects that though his old army pal, Hugh might be everyone’s chief suspect, the list of people who would be happy to see Preston dead will fill pages.
The magistrate’s office is getting pressure from the Crown to tag someone for Lord Preston’s murder, Hero is working on her interviews and writing up of the plight of the displaced and often homeless beggars who were recently soldiers and sailors saving their country from the Tyrant, and a French assassin for the Bourbon crown is busy leaving dead French about who displeased them. If that were not troubling enough, Sebastian suspects the man who is his real birth father is on that assassin’s agenda. And, where in all this does the attack on his wife fit?
As usual, I was happily immersed in the blend of history and mystery and the lives of now well-beloved characters from start to finish. The historical backdrop is carefully researched and presented so that its fascinating and lends depth to the plot without overpowering the story while the mystery itself offers a gritty, tension building to a nailbiter climax.
All in all, another gem for the series that I can’t praise enough. Now, I must wait for the next installment with high anticipation knowing there are a couple exciting bits I hope are revealed.
Author Bio:
Candice Proctor, aka C.S. Harris and C.S. Graham, is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than thirty novels including the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series written under the name C.S. Harris, the C.S. Graham thriller series co-written with Steven Harris, and seven historical romances. She is also the author of a nonfiction historical study of women in the French Revolution. Her books are available worldwide and have been translated into over twenty languages.
A former academic with a PhD in European history, Candice also worked as an archaeologist on a variety of sites including a Hudson's Bay Company Fort in San Juan Island, a Cherokee village in Tennessee, a prehistoric kill site in Victoria, Australia, and a Roman cemetery and medieval manor house in Winchester, England. She loves to travel and has spent much of her life abroad, living in Spain, Greece, England, France, Jordan, and Australia. A recipient of the prestigious Pinckley Prize, she now makes her home near San Antonio, Texas, with her husband, retired Army officer Steve Harris, and an ever-expanding number of cats.
Website: https://csharris.net/
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
I need to get back to this series!
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
I second that. So good, Anne!
DeleteThat sounds like a good murder mystery.
ReplyDeleteThis is a favorite historical mystery series. Just love Sebastian. :)
DeleteI was offered a copy of this book, but I had too many books for review so didn't grab it. I'm happy I didn't now seeing that the series should be read in order. It does sound like a series I'd enjoy, but I'll start at the beginning!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, this is a fab series and I know you'll love it. Good call since there are a few series plot threads woven in that you'd get into much more if you got it from the beginning.
Delete