In terms of Sebastian's personal life, he and Hero are growing ever closer and their marriage is becoming a true partnership in every sense. The identity of the villain is not easy to discern although there are sufficient clues to figure it all out.Īs with all of Harris's books, the historical detail is fascinating and the stories behind the various relics and curiosities mentioned throughout the storyline are captivating. These include a malicious curiosity dealer, an injured officer in His Majesty's army as well as Jane Austen's banker brother, and a vindictive foe from Sebastian's past.Īn entertaining addition to the series and the inclusion of Jane Austen as a minor secondary character is an added bonus as the intertextual clues from her works have an interesting effect on the reader's perceptions of characters and motivations.Īlthough Sebastian's investigation is a garden-variety murder and the suspect pool is rather limited, there are still some gripping moments that keep one turning the pages.
Cyr and his wife Hero are drawn into a macabre investigation with a host of suspects. When the decapitated corpse of a West Indies slave owner is discovered on an isolated bridge next to a relic from Charles I's coffin, Sebastian St. Now the vindictive former colonel might well pose a threat not only to Sebastian but to everything-and everyone-Sebastian holds most dear. Once, Oliphant nearly destroyed Sebastian in a horrific wartime act of carnage and betrayal. 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.īut 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. 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. 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. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, into a macabre and increasingly perilous investigation. The vicious decapitation of Stanley Preston, a wealthy, socially ambitious plantation owner, at Bloody Bridge draws Sebastian St.
Harris’s “troubled but compelling antihero” (Booklist) to the ultimate test in this taut, thrilling mystery. The grisly murder of a West Indies slave owner and the reappearance of a dangerous enemy from Sebastian St.
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