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A review by abbythompson
When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris
4.0
C.S. Harris gives hungry readers another great installment of Sebastian St. Cyr and his new wife, Lady Hero Devlin. Though keeping with the dark and gritty, Harris takes some interesting turns in this book that didn't always play out well, or make a lot of sense.
The mystery is exceptionally well-plotted for most of the book ... until the very end. Quite a bit of time is spent exploring the various Arthurian legends of England and it's tight-knit relationship to the current (Regency) time period. Compounding this is the secondary family to the first victim is the Tennyson family ... of Alfred, Lord Tenneyson and the Lady of Shalott fame. As a fan of this poem (thank you Anne of Green Gables!), I loved the intertwined stories and the glimpse into the Tennyson family. However, I was VERY surprised at the ending and the who-dun-it, because it came clear out of nowhere and had nothing at all to do with the leads Harris had been developing. The politics and Arthurian legends are dropped ... never mentioned again ... and the mystery is wrapped up by a very weird and awkward Deus ex Machina.
I am also SO SICK of Kat Boelyn. She can be the next victim for all I care. Though when Sebastian finally has his big "DUH" moment, I cheered. Hero is such a better match for him, and it was gut-wrenchingly painful to watch their mutual secrets drive a wedge between them. Hero and Sebastian aren't over as a couple though! And the end of the book had me cheering out loud.
If you like historical mysteries and haven't checked out this series yet, please do! I promise you'll like it!
The mystery is exceptionally well-plotted for most of the book ... until the very end. Quite a bit of time is spent exploring the various Arthurian legends of England and it's tight-knit relationship to the current (Regency) time period. Compounding this is the secondary family to the first victim is the Tennyson family ... of Alfred, Lord Tenneyson and the Lady of Shalott fame. As a fan of this poem (thank you Anne of Green Gables!), I loved the intertwined stories and the glimpse into the Tennyson family. However, I was VERY surprised at the ending and the who-dun-it, because it came clear out of nowhere and had nothing at all to do with the leads Harris had been developing. The politics and Arthurian legends are dropped ... never mentioned again ... and the mystery is wrapped up by a very weird and awkward Deus ex Machina.
I am also SO SICK of Kat Boelyn. She can be the next victim for all I care. Though when Sebastian finally has his big "DUH" moment, I cheered. Hero is such a better match for him, and it was gut-wrenchingly painful to watch their mutual secrets drive a wedge between them. Hero and Sebastian aren't over as a couple though! And the end of the book had me cheering out loud.
If you like historical mysteries and haven't checked out this series yet, please do! I promise you'll like it!