Scan barcode
A review by cleheny
What Remains of Heaven by C.S. Harris
4.0
Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries are a combination of mystery and soap opera, although I have to admit Harris writes a good soap opera in addition to the mystery. The mystery is set up well--the Bishop of London is found murdered in a recently uncovered crypt, found by the body of a man killed 30 or more years before. Sebastian's aunt, a close friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury, asks him to investigate. What follows is a plot intertwined with Britain's final efforts to salvage the American colonies, treason, and long-hidden family secrets. The mystery is well-plotted, and Harris sets up credible red herrings. There is also, of course, the usual multiple threats to Sebastian's life. It is a wonder that he has both survived this long and not gone bankrupt from replacing all of the very expensive clothes that get destroyed when he defends his life.
Unsurprisingly, given the developments in the previous book, we see more of Hero Jarvis, who is becoming my favorite character. She's an intelligent woman who wants more from life than to be placed in the perilous dependency of a wife; her parents' difficult relationship--and her mother's vulnerability to her father--clearly left their mark on her. She's practical and, in some ways, quite unsentimental, but she demonstrates a capacity for great love and loyalty.
The developments in Sebastian's life increasingly resemble the travails of a roguish soap opera hero. Having only recently become aware that his family has lied to him for 18 years in connection with his mother's death, and then learning that his lover is also his half-sister, the next long-buried secret drops. It's a secret that's been increasingly obvious since our introduction to his sister Amanda in the first book, and was all but spilled at the end of the third, Why Mermaids Sing (). Another shoe drops as well, in classic soap opera fashion (). These are pretty cheap twists, though Harris does pull them off elegantly and engagingly, which is what keeps me reading. I just wish she didn't resort to such romantic melodrama to create conflict in Sebastian's life.
Unsurprisingly, given the developments in the previous book, we see more of Hero Jarvis, who is becoming my favorite character. She's an intelligent woman who wants more from life than to be placed in the perilous dependency of a wife; her parents' difficult relationship--and her mother's vulnerability to her father--clearly left their mark on her. She's practical and, in some ways, quite unsentimental, but she demonstrates a capacity for great love and loyalty.
The developments in Sebastian's life increasingly resemble the travails of a roguish soap opera hero. Having only recently become aware that his family has lied to him for 18 years in connection with his mother's death, and then learning that his lover is also his half-sister, the next long-buried secret drops. It's a secret that's been increasingly obvious since our introduction to his sister Amanda in the first book, and was all but spilled at the end of the third, Why Mermaids Sing (