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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780451225122
ISBN number: 0451225120
Label: NAL Hardcover
Manufacturer: NAL Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: November 04, 2008
Publishing house: NAL Hardcover
Sale Popularity Level: 10772
Studio: NAL Hardcover
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Fourth in the “moody and atmospheric” historical mystery series starring “a troubled but compelling antihero.”(Booklist)
London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor—and one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent’s cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian powerbroker quashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter’s unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.
Working in an uneasy alliance, Hero and Sebastian follow a trail of clues leading from the seedy brothels and docksides of London’s East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family with dark secrets to hide. Risking both their lives and their reputations, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.
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Rated by buyers -
First Sentence: The girl stared out the window, one hand sliding up and down her shawl-covered arm in a ceaseless, uneasy motion.
Hero Jarvis is a reformist working on a theory as to what drives women to prostitution. She is also daughter to a cousin of the Prince regent. While interviewing one of the women, Rose, who had clearly been a gentlewoman, men break into Magdalene House, a shelter for women trying to escape the life, with Rose the object of the search. Rose and Hero escape the house, but Rose is shot and killed.
Hero appeals for help in finding out who Rose really was and why she turned to prostitution, to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. When Devlin learns all the women in the house had been murdered and the house burnt down and any investigation stopped, he agrees to help her
Each time I start a new book, I hope for the best and I certainly got it here. As with all of Harris' books, this was a don't-bother-me-I'm- reading, one-stop read.
The characters are wonderful. Hero is an intelligent, gutsy, independent and appropriately named. Devlin is a former soldier, recovering from heartbreak and in need of a new challenge. Then there is Tom, 14-year-old former pickpocket now Devlin's `tiger' who takes care of the horses, James Calhoon, the son-of-a-prostitute valet, and Paul Gibson, invalid ex-army doctor who conducts autopsies. All the characters are well done and actual historical characters are used in realistic, appropriate ways.
Harris provides a detailed view into both the ballrooms and the back alleys of Regency England. Devlin may be fighting for his life in the afternoon and heading off to Almak's in the evening. Both events are handled with style and panache.
I love good dialogue. Ms. Harris does provide good dialogue. There's a wonderful scene where Devlin is talking with a Calhoun's mother, who has a thick Gordie accent and there are times Calhoun has to translate for him. The story is very well done.
At one point, I was having trouble seeing how everything fit together, but Harris brought it all together in a way that made sense without at all stretching credulity. Even the romance made sense to the story and the ending was so well done. Now my only regret is having to wait another year for the subsequent book.
Rated by buyers 
-
This was yet another excellent St. Cyr mystery but Harris seems to have forgotten her own plotting. She refers to three characters from the previous novel as being victims of this novel's killer. But two were still living and one was killed by St. Cyr in self-defense. Oops.
Rated by buyers -
I have read all four St.Cyr mysteries and this was the best. I thought the third one had faltered a little, focusing more on Kat and Sebastian, but this one moved much quicker. I also loved the addition of Hero! I like her a lot more than Kat and I identified with Hero a lot more also. I can't wait for the next!
Rated by buyers -
I was so hooked by the very first two books in the St. Cyr series that I made a highly unusual (for me) hardcover purchase of the latest installment - I just had to know what happened next. I have the sheepishly admit that this one was the best one yet. Sheepishly? Yes, because I realize at the end that the motive for the murder(s) was at worst, absurd, at least, not set up very well. And the whole situtation for the victim was also a bit difficult to believe, despite Harris' brilliant writing. Even with these weaknesses, it was still a book I could not put down! Harris keeps things moving along, her dialog is believable and crisp. And the characters she creates are, despite what I've written earlier, utterly believable. Hero is as complex, maddening, brilliant, and funny as Sebastion. The secondary characters (and I fear in this book that Kat has been relegated to a secondary character, I'm sure that will change!) are richly developed as well. I am not looking forward to the long drought that I'm now facing, waiting for the subsequent book!
Rated by buyers -
I have been a fan since the very first St. Cyr mystery, but this one is by far the best in my opinion. Sebastian finally seems to be moving beyond the tragic relationship with Kat, and by the end of this book, appears to be re-establishing his relationship with his father. And Hero! What a terrific character she is! The parallel between both these protagonists and their fathers tied the whole book together, along with the motive for the main victim's actions, for me. I read it in one day and highly recommend it.
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