Waiting on Wednesday (2)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.  So here's a thing I'm looking forward to: What Darkness Brings, by C.S. Harris (from NAL, March 5, 2013).

The death of a notorious London diamond merchant draws aristocratic investigator Sebastian St. Cyr and his new wife Hero into a sordid world of greed, desperation, and the occult, when the husband of Sebastian’s former lover Kat Boleyn is accused of the murder.

Regency England, September 1812: After a long night spent dealing with the tragic death of a former military comrade, a heart-sick Sebastian learns of a new calamity: Russell Yates, the dashing, one-time privateer who married Kat a year ago, has been found standing over the corpse of Benjamin Eisler, a wealthy gem dealer. Yates insists he is innocent, but he will surely hang unless Sebastian can unmask the real killer.

For the sake of Kat, the woman he once loved and lost, Sebastian plunges into a treacherous circle of intrigue. Although Eisler’s clients included the Prince Regent and the Emperor Napoleon, he was a despicable man with many enemies and a number of dangerous, well-kept secrets—including a passion for arcane texts and black magic. Central to the case is a magnificent blue diamond, believed to have once formed part of the French crown jewels, which disappeared on the night of Eisler’s death. As Sebastian traces the diamond’s ownership, he uncovers links that implicate an eccentric, powerful financier named Hope and stretch back into the darkest days of the French Revolution.

*****

I used to read a lot of Regency romances, and I've read some nonfiction about the period as well, so this series of historical mysteries set in the early 1800s is right up my alley. I stumbled across the first one when it was new and I was still searching for a series to take the place of the late Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel novels, and I was completely smitten with Sebastian St Cyr on first meeting.

I have to admit, though, I've fallen behind on this series; I've got, I think, two to catch up on before I can go on to this one.

What Angels Fear

On a foggy morning in London, days before the Crown Prince becomes Regent for the mad old king, Viscount Devlin is minding his own business in much the same way he has since he sold out his commission in the army and came home from the Napoleonic Wars, waiting for his opponent in his fourth duel in six months.  At the same time, a murdered young woman is discovered drenched in blood in a church, and the evidence points to Devlin.  A young constable is mortally wounded during his arrest, and Devlin decides on the spot that his only chance of vindication is to investigate the crime himself, even though that means fleeing from the law.

I've read a lot of Regency romances in my day, so Regency mysteries are right up my alley as well.  This one reminded me of the short-lived Julian Kestrel series by the late Kate Ross, not only for the setting but for the author's unflinching look at the underside of London society--something that most of the romances don't even consider, or gloss over.  Devlin is an intriguing character, and the supporting cast are all well-drawn.

This book is the first by C.S. Harris, a New Orleans author {edit to add: at least under that name; she's also written romances as Candice Proctor, and thrillers as half of C.S. Graham} ; the second novel is called When Gods Die, and I've got my name down for it at the library where I work.

As a side note, not long ago I also read Jane and the Barque of Frailty, the latest in Stephanie Barron's series featuring Jane Austen as the sleuth.  In this one she was in London to oversee the publication of her first novel, whereas previous volumes had been set in various parts of the country; so this one was more like the romances I'd read, with its social round.  It also dealt with less respectable characters, but in a more genteel way, mostly evading the hard necessities of a courtesan's life; a scene where the current star of the demimonde explains in no uncertain terms just what made her run away from her family seems out of place, almost anachronistic.

Originally posted at MySpace 1/1/07