This is a great historical mystery series! There's enough twists and turns to keep you guessing (especially if it's been a while since you studied European history), the characters are fully developed, and there's an enjoyable insertion of information about the impact of class during this era. I experience a good mix of thinking and enjoying the descriptions of streets filled with carriages and vendors when the use of forensic autopsy was new and medical students had to deal with grave robbers.

Share/Like this Review?

C.S. Harris keeps up the high standard set in the previous entries of this series; fans of Sebastian St. Cyr will not be disappointed. The mystery is well constructed, with plenty of red herrings as usual, but a bit less gore than some of the other books. I see some reviewers have complained that Hero didn't play a big enough role. Well, I am a huge fan of Hero, and the first thing I do when I get a new St. Cyr book, is flip through the pages looking for scenes where she makes an appearance. I was not disappointed, and I thoroughly enjoyed the part she played in this book. It was a question of quality over quantity, and we see their relationship deepening gradually and realistically. There are more teasers about Sebastian's family background, but still lots of unanswered questions. It picks up almost right after the last book left off, so Hero is still pregnant, in fact I'd say she's now into her second trimester. At the rate this series is progressing, I guess she'll have the baby somewhere around 2016!

Share/Like this Review?

This is another enjoyable addition to the St. Cyr series. The plot revolves around the Hope Diamond, said to have been cut from the French Crown Jewels, and Napoleon's efforts to regain the lost jewel. Harris provides some interesting historical references. My main complaint is that each St. Cyr volume follows the exact same pattern. Someone is murdered. A person is wrongly accused. Someone or something draws Devlin into the investigation. Devlin interviews half-a-dozen suspects repeatedly because they lie to him and only give him the truth piece by piece. Many of these suspects are killed off. Someone is lurking in the shadows following Devlin. At some point, Devlin will get into a fight and receive a serious cut via a knife or sword, usually to the arm or torso (he must have so many scars it's hard to function). The accused will be exonerated but the guilty party usually dies before facing the hangman. If you've never read a St. Cyr novel, I just summed up all eight of them for you. Otherwise, an enjoyable series.

Share/Like this Review?

Rhys Wilkinson, an army friend of Sebastian St. Cyr, has been murdered. His body was found next to Hyde Park. Who would kill Wilkinson and why?

Then the Earl of Hendon, Devlin's father, informs him about the murder of Daniel Eisler, jeweler and money lender. Russell Yates, husband of Sebastion's once long time lover, Kat Boleyn, has been arrested and charged with Eisler's murder. Eisler is furthermore found to be a blackmailer with many enemies. Sebastion is asked to find the murderer(s) of both men before Yates hangs for Eisler's death which he swears he didn't commit. As the investigation proceeds, Devlin Finds that the two deaths are, as he suspected, connected.

The tale essentially revolves around the French Crown jewels which were historically lost during the revolution. Centerpiece of that collection is a huge blue diamond, referred to as the French Blue which appears and disappears throughout history. The diamond is cut into what is believed to be what we know as the Hope diamond.

Thenovel shows how Hero and Sebastion's marriage grows as they pool their resources in investigations. Of course, Lord Jarvis, Hero's father objects to her involvement. And, he makes no secret of his dislike of her husband He has told Devlin that he will not hesitate to put him on his list for removal should he feel it necessary.

Injecting a some humor into the story is a stray cat that several characters encounter. The cat makes many appearances all the way to the end.

There is so much I like about this series. Some feel that the novels should be read in order. I haven't done so but that detracts little from my enjoyment. The author's writing style is so flowing that the stories unravel quickly. While Devlin and Hero are fictious, there are other characters who lived during this period including a Francillon who cut the Blue and Thomas Hope, owner of today's name of the diamond.

Share/Like this Review?

London, September 1812. After a long night spent dealing with the tragic death of a former military comrade, a heart-sick Sebastian learns of a new calamity: Russell Yates, the dashing, one-time privateer who married Sebastian's former lover Kat Boleyn a year ago, has been found standing over the corpse of notorious London diamond merchant Benjamin Eisler. Yates insists he is innocent, but he will surely hang unless Sebastian can unmask the real killer.
This was an excellent book in the series of Sebastian St. Cyr. I really did enjoy this book but it was a bit convoluted with a lot of stuff going on besides the murder. It was a bit slow in parts and had an occult happening that could have been cut from the book without missing it at all. A lot of different suspects and the murderer escaped me until the very end. Harris could have given us more clues in the book so we would have been given a chance to guess the murderer. But I will give her 4 stars for this book and move on to the next St. Cyr book.

Share/Like this Review?