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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Like a gritty, sexy Georgette Heyer novel with murder. Slightly confusing keeping track of all the characters, but I was interested enough in the setting and the characters to want to read the next in the series.
Set in 1811, I was expecting a Jane Austen setting but it was more Jack the Ripper here than Jane Austen. Men and women's behaviours seemed too advanced but maybe that was just the London setting as apposed to Austen's usual country manners. The protagonist seemed a bit too Mary Sue for me but the author addressed it in the author's note and now I'm more fascinated than annoyed.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
First book of a new series for me and I really liked it. It was a tiny bit formulaic with it's handsome/reluctantly heroic protagonist and trio of helpers, but it worked well. The mystery is dark and not overly predictable (I didn't accurately guess who the criminal was early on!) and the story unfolds at a good pace. Enjoyable and recommended, I look forward to reading the next one.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Blood, Murder
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Classism
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War
Minor: Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Outing
adventurous
mysterious
This book takes us into the dark underbelly of Regency England, from royalty to the most impovershed. Even the brief visits to a masquerade ball and Hyde Park are dark, quite the contrast to all those regency romances, espionage thrillers, and historical mysteries. What little romance is present breathes hopelessness.
On a cold damp January day in 1811, while an acrid yellow fog seeps through the streets of London, a beautiful young actress lights candles in the Lady's Chapel of an out of the way church as she waited for a rendez-vous she had arranged. The next morning, her body was found on the altar steps in a sea of blood, having been raped and beheaded. Evidence points to an aristocrat, the heir of King George III's Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Viscount Devlin, Sebastian St. Cyr. Meanwhile King George III has been declared mad and the Prince is to be appointed Regent to govern in his stead within days. The war with Napoleon is draining away England's coffers causing the poor to get poorer while the rich to get richer off the war in one way or another. The end result is not only a powder keg of potential social unrest during this weak period in the monarchy, but political machinations occuring deep in the seats of government and the closed doors of the nobility are attempting to ensure new Prince Regent either appoints a new Whig government backing social reforms and peace with France, or retaining the Tory government status quo in support of the monarchy and the war which is enriching all the Tories. Magistrate Lovejoy is informed within hours of the body being found that St Cyr is to be arrested and brought to justice immediately based on the evidence found with the body.
Add in an espionage ring supplying information to Napoleon, and you have a powder keg against which the only person who seems to be interested in finding out who is the real murderer is the accused Sebastian St. Cyr. St. Cyr undertakes to investigate while dodging arrest with the help of former lover, the actress Kat Boleyn, an urchin named Tom, and a surgeon who served with St. Cyr in the Peninsular Wars. These are all well-rounded characters that I suspect will be regulars in the rest of the series.
The plot takes many twists and turns, with layer upon layer having to be peeled away before the final revelation of the murderer and quite the climactic scene. There are many hints of dark family secrets in the St. Cyr family tree that are likely to be disclosed in future books in the series. In fact, one thing I'd suspected since about a 3rd into the book if not sooner was in a sense confirmed at the end by a comment made during a confrontation. The book ends a few days after it starts with the investiture of the Regency.
The political maneuverings in this are fascinating and add a great deal to the mystery. It is a very violent, depraved, and bloody crime and side of the regency era that is described, which will not be to everyone's tastes. I liked this a great deal and will certainly be reading more of the series. I did knock off a star for a number of plot points relating to criminal investigation that i thought just too unlikely as they were just illogical, which did not fit the character presented of Magistrate Lovejoy.
On a cold damp January day in 1811, while an acrid yellow fog seeps through the streets of London, a beautiful young actress lights candles in the Lady's Chapel of an out of the way church as she waited for a rendez-vous she had arranged. The next morning, her body was found on the altar steps in a sea of blood, having been raped and beheaded. Evidence points to an aristocrat, the heir of King George III's Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Viscount Devlin, Sebastian St. Cyr. Meanwhile King George III has been declared mad and the Prince is to be appointed Regent to govern in his stead within days. The war with Napoleon is draining away England's coffers causing the poor to get poorer while the rich to get richer off the war in one way or another. The end result is not only a powder keg of potential social unrest during this weak period in the monarchy, but political machinations occuring deep in the seats of government and the closed doors of the nobility are attempting to ensure new Prince Regent either appoints a new Whig government backing social reforms and peace with France, or retaining the Tory government status quo in support of the monarchy and the war which is enriching all the Tories. Magistrate Lovejoy is informed within hours of the body being found that St Cyr is to be arrested and brought to justice immediately based on the evidence found with the body.
Add in an espionage ring supplying information to Napoleon, and you have a powder keg against which the only person who seems to be interested in finding out who is the real murderer is the accused Sebastian St. Cyr. St. Cyr undertakes to investigate while dodging arrest with the help of former lover, the actress Kat Boleyn, an urchin named Tom, and a surgeon who served with St. Cyr in the Peninsular Wars. These are all well-rounded characters that I suspect will be regulars in the rest of the series.
The plot takes many twists and turns, with layer upon layer having to be peeled away before the final revelation of the murderer and quite the climactic scene. There are many hints of dark family secrets in the St. Cyr family tree that are likely to be disclosed in future books in the series. In fact, one thing I'd suspected since about a 3rd into the book if not sooner was in a sense confirmed at the end by a comment made during a confrontation. The book ends a few days after it starts with the investiture of the Regency.
The political maneuverings in this are fascinating and add a great deal to the mystery. It is a very violent, depraved, and bloody crime and side of the regency era that is described, which will not be to everyone's tastes. I liked this a great deal and will certainly be reading more of the series. I did knock off a star for a number of plot points relating to criminal investigation that i thought just too unlikely as they were just illogical, which did not fit the character presented of Magistrate Lovejoy.
According to my records, I read this once upon a time before I started blogging. The fact that I remembered very little of it points to the reason I started this blog in the first place--so I could write reviews of the books I read and hopefully give my sieve-like memory a boost. One of my favorite sub-genres of mystery is the historical mystery. I have a strong preference for the Victorian era, but the Regency period is also a favorite. I recently picked up several of the later books in the series (from a library bookstore clearance sale) and wanted to go back to the beginning and read in order.
Harris does a fine job setting her Regency-era scene and I definitely felt like I was being drawn back in time to the period. Her characters are fairly stock-in-trade (from the silent, near-loner hero who publicly seems a bit hard-as-nails, but underneath is sympathetic to those in need to the injured, ex-military doctor to the mysterious, forbidden love interest to the villains who want nothing more than to see our hero fail), but she makes them her own and manages to make the reader interested in and really care about them. She ties up the threads of the primary mystery very neatly, but there are plenty of loose threads from the rest of the pattern to follow up in future books. I look forward to reading about them.
Full review first posted on my blog
Harris does a fine job setting her Regency-era scene and I definitely felt like I was being drawn back in time to the period. Her characters are fairly stock-in-trade (from the silent, near-loner hero who publicly seems a bit hard-as-nails, but underneath is sympathetic to those in need to the injured, ex-military doctor to the mysterious, forbidden love interest to the villains who want nothing more than to see our hero fail), but she makes them her own and manages to make the reader interested in and really care about them. She ties up the threads of the primary mystery very neatly, but there are plenty of loose threads from the rest of the pattern to follow up in future books. I look forward to reading about them.
Full review first posted on my blog
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a great mystery. It did drag in some parts, but the characters were well written and likeable. The writing was great and I would recommend this book for any mystery book lovers.