Reviews

Who Buries the Dead by C.S. Harris

shomarq's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

priyastoric's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

3.0

taleisin's review

4.0

I absolutely love how Harris does characters. This is book 10 of the series and the characters keep evolving. Take, for example, Hero. When we first met her a number of books ago she was "interesting", now I completely adore her. I've loved watching her and Sebastian's love story play out in the last couple of books and am eager to see where it goes.

Add to that a well thought out mystery and I eagerly await the next book in March.

I also really hope we get to see what happens in Shropshire.

amandagstevens's review against another edition

4.0

My binge continues, and I regret nothing. The plots are intricate but not convoluted, the answers to the mysteries well thought out, the murderers given convincing motivation, the red herrings never too absurd. But even more important, Harris is masterful at keeping me invested, flavoring every murder mystery with some deeply personal element for Sebastian. I'm also in love with the growing love between him and Hero, the slow maturing of their marriage and their ability to open up to one another though this relationship began on such rocky ground.

Reviewer critiques of the series aren't all wrong. A formula emerges after a while; Sebastian tends to solve murders by grilling his suspects pointblank, returning to grill some more when he discovers they've lied to him, etc. One or more people are typically trying to kill him in every single book, and his poor forearms are always catching the knife intended to deliver a mortal wound. But honestly, do I care about a few formulaic elements? No, I do not. What I care about: Sebastian. Unearthing his past, seeking justice and truth, learning how to be a husband and a father...ah, I love this guy. Bingeing onward.

chadjames312's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

#JanuaryPagesChallenge

rclz's review

5.0

Good book with a good narrator. The historical addons at the end of the book is always interesting. I'll be mad when I get to the end of the series. :)

lgiegerich's review

4.0

Well, it took 10 books set in the regency period to get to Jane Austen, but when we did, it certainly was fun! I especially liked all the Austen references scattered throughout.

cleheny's review

2.0

I found this to be a somewhat tedious mystery. A historical artifact collector is found beheaded beside a lonely bridge, and it appears that both Charles I's missing head and Jane Austen are part and parcel of the mystery. Harris' tendency to give each St. Cyr novel a connection to a historical development felt particularly labored here. There are, of course, multiple attempts on Sebastian's life, and the requisite foot chase (though, for once, Sebastian actually captures the guy he's chasing). Harris also attempts to "Austen-ize" her plot, with references to characters from Austen's first two published works, as well as a subplot that Harris appears to suggest prompted Austen's Persuasion. I'm often leery of fictionalizing actual persons, and I particularly dislike it when an author tries to do that with Austen. Harris falls into the same trap as other writers--trying to write Austen as wittily as Austen wrote her novels. But only Austen can actually do that. Harris concedes as much by occasionally giving Austen quotes (or near quotes) from her own works.

anothernicole's review

4.0

Ok, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this series; it's well-written and incredibly well-researched, but it's also pretty gruesome/gritty, sometimes graphic, and occasionally risque. But this particular book stands out because in this book, Harris has woven in Jane Austen and Austenilia! Jane Austen and her brother Henry are characters in the story, multiple characters in the story are reading Austen's novels, and a few key characters are deliberately reminisicent of Austenian characters (a character named Anne Preston, for instance, who wasn't allowed to marry the impoverished Captain she loved in her youth). So I thought that was cool--even if I didn't always like how the Austenian characers were portrayed. I am fiercely, stubbornly, and irrationally devoted to Austen's characters and take any slights against them very personally ;) But overall I loved that aspect of the book. And I thought that the conversations between characters and Jane Austen were convincing. I feel like Harris's portrayal of Austen accorded with how I would have wanted her to be drawn hehe :)

kindleandilluminate's review against another edition

3.0

I'm a big fan of this series, but this tenth volume is my least favorite so far. The solution to the mystery felt unearned and came a little out of left field, and the presence of Jane Austen - a fun addition early on - was barely relevant. C.S. Harris is usually excellent at tying real historical events and figures into her mysteries, but Who Buries the Dead attempts to use too many events/figures and the Jane Austen angle is left weak and unfinished.

Spoiler

I wanted her novels to hold some actual clues, or for her to help solve the mystery, or to matter...but they end up just being vague red herrings.

This won't stop me from reading #11 the moment it hits stores next spring, though.