C. S. Harris (1)

Sebastian St Cyr is an English nobleman-cum-investigator who is frequently asked to assist the police in murder investigations. St Cyr sees this work as a way to atone for acts he witnessed and was a party to while fighting against Napoleon’s army in the early 1800s. But now, in 1813, St Cyr has a wife and infant son and must be increasingly careful to ensure he and his family are not harmed as a result of his work.

The crimes in this installment are particularly grisly, as the victims literally lose their heads, and the investigation ends up delving into those who collect relics from royal executions (yes, we’re talking about heads here). In a more lighthearted vein, this book also includes a meeting between St Cyr and Jane Austen, whose novels were hugely popular, but published anonymously. It was fun to imagine how fictional characters may have encountered actual historic figures. Best of all, this part of the novel meshed well with the rest of the story and did not seem at all contrived.

St Cyr’s investigations typically involve talking to anyone and everyone who may have had a connection to the victims, and following further leads from those conversations. While his colleague Paul Gibson serves as medical examiner, at that time there was only so much that could be learned from that process. As he builds evidence and identifies suspects, St Cyr invariably ends up returning to certain people again to see if he can learn more. And even though he knows better, he also invariably puts himself in danger. The outcome is mostly positive, and leaves a loose end in St Cyr’s personal life to be explored further in the next book(s).… (mere)

A continuation of the Sebastian St Cyr mysteries, this one takes place in the Regent's quarters in Brighton during one of his outrageously expensive fetes. The people of London are starving, children without mothers beg in the street, and the Regent needs everyone to love him. So he throws this ball.

And as I'm finding with this mystery series, the murder happens right at the beginning of the book with the Prince Regent entering a private chamber for a private assignation with a Marchioness, only to find her dead and his own antique dirk protruding from her back.

Added to the mystery is the lack of blood in the chamber, the access to the Regent's collection of antique swords and knives, and how a medallion belonging to Sebastian's drowned mother was found around the dead woman's body. Woven into the thread of this tale are the suppositions about James II, whose descendants have as good a claim to the tottering throne as the Hanovers do. And the name of the dead Marchioness is Guinevere, her older sister named Morgana, and Gwen's childhood sweetheart whose family lost everything during the French Revolution.

Somehow, Harris manages to keep all these threads well-woven with just enough explanation to instruct but not condescend. I'll be interested to see how these novels continue.… (mere)