Read Online Who Slays the Wicked Sebastian St Cyr Mystery C S Harris Books

Product details Series Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Book 14) Hardcover 352 pages Publisher Berkley (April 2, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 0399585656

Who Slays the Wicked Sebastian St Cyr Mystery C S Harris Books Reviews

• I love this series overall. But... I have complained in the past about some issues and I will state them once again.
  
  What I like. I love Sebastian's character and I enjoy following the trail as one step in his investigation leads to the next. There are some enjoyable characters and side stories, including Hero's continuing research on the poor folks of London and the manner in which they earn money to survive.
  
  My complaints are based upon the fact that the series began with some questions about Sebastian's parents, including the man who fathered him and apparently passed along those lovely yellow eyes which gives Sebastian nearly super-human eyesight. His baby son also has the same eyes. At some point, the mystery of Sebastian's mother and whether or not she was/is still alive was also an intriguing part of the storyline. We even had a character who looked enough like Sebastian to be his older brother and probably was his half brother, but Ms. Harris opted to have him killed off before we could learn enough about his life for Simon to come to any type of resolution about his own antecedents.
  
  Also, in several of these detective type stories, the storylines feature some romance between the two main characters - in this case those would be Sebastian and Hero. Not so in the St. Cyr books. Romance between Sebastian and Hero basically no longer exists. There might have been two or three lines in this book where love was acknowledged and I do believe Sebastian rolled over in bed once and threw his arm over Hero. Honestly, I can't recall exactly and I'm not even interested enough to go back and check it out.
  
  In truth, these books are pricey for the value I'm getting out of them these days. I'm glad to pay the price if the book is worth reading again and then again over the years. But, I'm simply not energized enough about the last few books to take them on again. That's all, Folks!
• After looking forward to this new book of a great series, I was disappointed. Book is well written with a good plot. However it is missing the heat and romance of Sebastian and wife Hero. She is hardly in the book, and their relationship is one thing in the books that intrigued most of us. Even Sebastians former love Kat was hardly in book. And how many times can Sebastian be injured and bloody till it is not believable? Hoping her next installment will have all our old characters back!
• When a murder hits too close to home, Sebastian finds himself investigating the death of the man he most reviled. The difficulty is that it turns out everyone hated the man and the man's wife, Sebastian's niece has the most reason.
  
  In this fourteenth installment of the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series, I found myself transported once again to Regency Era London on the eve of the Napoleonic War coming to an end when a sadistic fiend who raped and murdered young children, took advantage of every trades person and servant he encountered, and lived as the ultimate profligate turns up dead. Very dead. As in someone stabbed him so often that blood flowed everywhere.
  
  I've enjoyed this series- which, incidentally, must be read in order. Watching Sebastian come to terms with his father and the secrets that hurt Sebastian deeply when they were hidden and then came out in brutal ways. In the last few years, he has happiness in his own life with his courageous and strong-willed wife and son. That said, he careful stays one step ahead of the political intrigue and danger swirling around his father in law that threatens him occasionally, and he is still determined to discover the last of the secrets surrounding his own enigmatic history. But, through it all, Sebastian has become a keen consulting detective for the London police with his military background, keen personal abilities and clever ability to not just look, but actually see when it comes to people and events. It doesn't hurt that he has entre into places in the upper classes that the police can't help to go.
  
  Lord Ashworth was a repulsive, evil being. Sebastian's need to get to the bottom of it is driven by his fear that his intrepid niece might have taken the knife herself- and many clues and facts do point her way. However, they also point toward a powerful and ruthless Russian princess whom his father in law warns him away from and also toward a despairing furniture maker who has been ruined because Ashworth wouldn't pay a large bill. Oh, and let's not forget the dangerous criminal hired by Ashworth as an assassin who also got angry over overdue bills. And, that is just the short list.
  
  Meanwhile, Sebastian's wife, Hero, is working on treatise about the poor and their lives who make their living as rag and bone men, pure pickers, and night soil men. She hopes to rouse the powers that be to social reform by exposing the lives of so many eking out their existence right under the noses of the affluent. Hero is unable to shake the worry over her distant cousin Victoria scheming with Jarvis, Hero's father. Jarvis is the power behind the throne and will stop short of nothing to achieve the results he desires which seems to be the case with Victoria and the shadows around her past life and the significant glances she shares with Jarvis now and then.
  
  Sebastian doesn't even feel guilty for the relief he feels at Ashworth's killing and no one else does either beyond the man's father, an old family retainer, and an actual best friend. This was a case of too many suspects and too many motives. It also rounds out the story arc begun in the previous book when Sebastian solved the case, but didn't get full satisfaction at the results. Sebastian also learns what drove Stephanie all this time (its been a mystery through a few books).
  
  I am always keen on historical mysteries that provide as much authentic historical flavor as a clever well-developed mystery and engaging characters. This series continues to stand the test of time and keep me riveted with each new book released. The main mystery was good, but I also enjoy the background series-long ones as well. All historical mystery fans should try this series and join me in anticipating each new book.
• Warning a few spoilers in my review
  
  As always, C.S. Harris’s new entry in the Sebastian St. Cyr (Viscount Devlin) series is well-written and historically grounded in Regency Britain. Sebastian agonizes about the distinct possibility that his niece, Stephanie, murdered her amoral, philandering husband, Viscount Ashworth. Devlin desperately wants to clear Stephanie’s name, but she lies about their relationship.
  
  Stephanie was seeing a married man of lesser station before she married Ashworth, who was hated by many in London. Questions have arisen about the paternity of her children, and Sebastian learns that Stephanie was recently seen, speaking with her ex-lover. Devlin’s angst-filled thoughts and the overall dark mood began to get to me, so I took a few breaks and listened to another book.
  
  I realize I’m amongst the minority of Goodread reviewers, so take my review with a teaspoon of salt, because you may love this book.
• I can't begin to express my pleasure at encountering a well-written, well-edited story. In this era where anyone thinks themselves an author while putting minimal effort into creating an interesting plot that is then minimally proofread and poorly edited before being published, this author shines as an inspiring exception. I love this series and come away with such a powerful sense of the times, history, and historical characters, not to mention what life was like for people in classes other than just the aristocracy. Excellent work!!