Who Buries the Dead

C. S. Harris

Mar 2015 · Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Book 10 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

The grisly murder of a West Indies slave owner and the reappearance of a dangerous enemy from Sebastian St. Cyr’s past combine to put C. S. Harris’s “troubled but compelling antihero” (Booklist) to the ultimate test in this taut, thrilling mystery.

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.
 

Ratings and reviews

Excellent series! Each book is complex in thought, well researched, and wonderfully written. This novel was no exception. The crimes, though grisly, are believable. Lord Devlin and Hero make a great couple.

CS Harris continues to do a wonderful job with this series. In fact I would consider this book her best so far. I started reading the series in order and have been so enthralled. The development of Devlin's character has me feeling like..... he's someone I've personally met and have come to know as a friend. I can hardly wait for the next next book. Will we see some kind of solution with the doctor? Will we get to know more of his mother? Will Kat come back into the picture?

Great read

About the author

C. S. Harris has written more than a twenty novels, including the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series (Why Kings Confess, What Darkness Brings, When Maidens Mourn); as C. S. Graham, a thriller series coauthored by former intelligence officer Steven Harris; and seven award-winning historical romances written under the name Candice Proctor.