When Maidens Mourn (Sebastian St. Cyr Series #7)

by C. S. Harris

Overview

Regency England, August 1812: Sebastian St. Cyr’s plans to escape the heat of London for a honeymoon with his new bride, Hero Jarvis, are shattered when the murdered body of Hero’s good friend Gabrielle Tennyson is discovered drifting in a battered boat at the site of a long-vanished castle known as Camlet Moat. Missing and also presumed dead are Gabrielle’s two young cousins. 

Still struggling to define the nature of their new marriage, Sebastian and Hero find themselves occasionally working at cross-purposes as their investigation uncovers dark secrets at the heart of the Tennyson family and an enigmatic young French lieutenant who is concealing mysteries of his own.

Sebastian and Hero’s race to unmask a ruthless killer and unravel the puzzle of the missing children puts both their lives and their growing love for each other at risk as they’re threatened by powerful men in high places…and by a tall, dark stranger who may hold the key to Sebastian’s own parentage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451414229
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/05/2013
Series:	Sebastian St. Cyr Series , #7
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	96,044
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

C. S. Harris is a historian who lives in New Orleans. Writing as Candice Proctor, she is also the author of seven award-winning historical romances. Under the name C. S. Graham, she coauthors contemporary thrillers with her husband, former intelligence officer Steven Harris. She has two daughters.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for the Sebastian St. Cyr Series

"Best historical thriller writer in the business! Sebastian St. Cyr is…uncannily clever, unwaveringly reserved, and irresistibly sexy. The entire series is simply elegant.”—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

“Deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“A crescendo of suspense and surprise.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Thoroughly enjoyable…kept me enthralled.”—Deanna Raybourn

“A ripping read...captivated me to the final page.”—Will Thomas

“Harris crafts her story with the threat of danger, hints of humor, vivid sex scenes, and a conclusion that will make your pulse race.”—The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Harris delves deep into the mores of Regency England…”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Sebastian St. Cyr Series

"Best historical thriller writer in the business!  Sebastian St. Cyr is…uncannily clever, unwaveringly reserved, and irresistibly sexy.  The entire series is simply elegant.”—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

“Deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“A crescendo of suspense and surprise.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Thoroughly enjoyable…kept me enthralled.”—Deanna Raybourn

“A ripping read...captivated me to the final page.”—Will Thomas

“Harris crafts her story with the threat of danger, hints of humor, vivid sex scenes, and a conclusion that will make your pulse race.”—The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Harris delves deep into the mores of Regency England…”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

From the Publisher

Set in August 1812, Harris’s intriguing seventh Regency whodunit featuring aristocratic sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr (after 2011’s Where Shadows Dance) marks a return to form. St. Cyr has just married Hero Jarvis, the fiercely capable daughter of his bitterest enemy, Charles, Lord Jarvis, a cousin of the Prince Regent and the power behind the throne. The stabbing murder of Hero’s antiquarian friend, Gabrielle Tennyson, who was studying excavations at Camlet Moat in Trent, disrupts the newlyweds’ honeymoon plans. That Camlet Moat and the legendary Camelot may be one and the same is a more-than-academic point at a time when radicals are “calling for King Arthur to return... and save Britain from the benighted rule of the House of Hanover.” The couple pursue their investigations separately, at the risk of their fragile new relationship. Established fans will best appreciate the personal convolutions, but newcomers will have no trouble keeping up. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Regency England comes alive in Harris's seventh Sebastian St. Cyr novel (Where Shadows Dance). Sebastian's honeymoon with Hero Jarvis is disrupted by ancient legends and a fresh corpse.

Library Journal

In the seventh installment in this Regency mystery series, Sebastian St. Cyr and his new bride, Hero Jarvis, are drawn into a murder investigation that involves politics, King Arthur, the legend of Camelot, and the disappearance of two young children. Davina Porter portrays Sebastian with an upper-class British accent that fits his aristocratic status and highlights the stark contrast between his genteel life and the world of the hoi polloi. For the forthright Hero, she employs a higher-pitched but equally commanding tone. Porter varies her reading for each of the supporting characters, including the more relaxed tones of the servants and the French accents of the paroled officers who complicate the investigation. Porter captures both the gritty details of police work and the subtle romance between Sebastian and Hero. E.N. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2012 - AudioFile

The search for Camelot disrupts a honeymoon in 1812. Four days into the pregnancy-driven marriage of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and Hero Jarvis, daughter of his sworn enemy, Miss Gabrielle Tennyson, an antiquarian who insisted that Camelot was located on the tiny bit of land known as Camlet Moat, is found floating in the moat, stabbed to death. When Bow Street calls upon Sebastian to deal with the death, Hero, a friend of Gabrielle, decides to nose around too. The first order of business: find out what has become of the vanished cousins who were with Gabrielle, young masters George, 9, and Alfred, 3. While their father is organizing a search for the boys, Sebastian focuses on possible motives for Gabrielle's slaying. She had had a tiff with another antiquarian about King Arthur and the authenticity of a supposed relic, the Glastonbury cross. But Hero's father, Lord Jarvis, also arouses suspicion through his parliamentary ties and his plotting against Napoleonic spies trying to destabilize the monarchy, including one whose heart may have belonged to Gabrielle. Then an estate manager is shot dead in the moat and the lovelorn French lieutenant dies. Although Sebastian sorts through the various motives and culprits, he still can't find the two boys. Their fate can be determined only by a detailed inspection of the Tennyson lineage that finally leaves time for Sebastian and Hero to resume the more passionate aspects of their honeymoon. History buffs will have a heyday hobnobbing with the Tennysons, "discovering" Arthur's burial site, dabbling in Druid enlightenment and siding with the Brits over Napoleon. Romantics will pine once more over Sebastian (When Shadows Dance, 2011, etc.).

Kirkus Reviews