Where the Dead Lie (Sebastian St. Cyr Series #12)

by C. S. Harris Narrated by Davina Porter

Overview

In the latest mystery from the national bestselling author of When Falcons Fall, the gruesome murder of a young boy takes Sebastian St. Cyr from the gritty streets of London to the glittering pleasure haunts of the aristocracy... London, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is no stranger to the dark side of the city, but he's never seen anything like this: the brutalized body of a fifteen- year-old boy dumped into a makeshift grave on the grounds of an abandoned factory. One of London's many homeless children, Benji Thatcher was abducted and tortured before his murder-and his younger sister is still missing. Few in authority care about a street urchin's fate, but Sebastian refuses to let this killer go unpunished. Uncovering a disturbing pattern of missing children, Sebastian is drawn into a shadowy, sadistic world. As he follows a grim trail that leads from the writings of the debauched Marquis de Sade to the city's most notorious brothels, he comes to a horrifying realization: someone from society's upper echelon is preying upon the city's most vulnerable. And though dark, powerful forces are moving against him, Sebastian will risk his reputation and his life to keep more innocents from harm... From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

02/13/2017
Moving depictions of life on London’s mean streets are the best parts of Harris’s 12th Regency-era mystery featuring dashing Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin (after 2016’s When Falcons Fall). Less memorable is the whodunit involving a search for a serial killer preying on children. After Benji Thatcher’s mother was transported to Botany Bay, the 15-year-old street urchin cared for his younger sister, Sybil, until he was abducted, sexually abused, tortured, and killed. The grisly crime comes to Devlin’s attention after a watchman by chance interrupts the burial of the corpse. Devlin fears for Sybil’s safety and worries that the man responsible for Benji’s ordeal has claimed other victims. As in previous books, Devlin crosses swords with his Machiavellian father-in-law, Charles, Lord Jarvis, the “real power behind the Hanovers’ wobbly throne,” who regards the deaths of orphans as trivial compared with the affairs of state. The plot develops predictably, but Harris is better than most in investing even minor characters with sometimes heartbreaking humanity. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Where the Dead Lie
 
“C.S. Harris really is a master of storytelling. Each book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series is a tense, tightly plotted and atmospherically executed read. Full of period correct detail and fascinating, complex characters, there is never a dull moment or wasted word...This is definitely one of my best reads of the year.”—Open Book Society
 
“Fantastic...Her attention to detail richly evokes the feel of the time period but is never overdone. Harris' characters are lushly drawn in all their glorious complexity...a satisfying historical mystery that is engrossing 'til the last page is turned.”—Fresh Fiction
 
“A winner!...Atmospheric and immediately engaging...A wonderful read capable of being enjoyed as a stand-alone.”—Historical Novel Society
 
“Exceeds even the previous novels in psychological depth...relentless pacing...a gripping read.”—Booklist
 
“Moving depictions of life on London's mean streets are the best parts of Harris's 12th Regency-era mystery featuring dashing Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin...Harris is better than most in investing even minor characters with sometimes heartbreaking humanity.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“This latest installment in Harris's well-researched historical series features a charismatic lead who's unafraid of exposing the inner workings of a controlling authority when it turns against its own people.”—Library Journal
 
Praise for the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series
 
“This riveting historical tale of tragedy and triumph, with its sly nods to Jane Austen and her characters, will enthrall you.”—Sabrina Jeffries, New York Times bestselling author
 
“Sebastian St. Cyr is everything you could want in a Regency-era nobleman-turned–death investigator: uncannily clever, unwaveringly reserved, and irresistibly sexy. The entire series is simply elegant.”—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author
 
“Thoroughly enjoyable . . . Moody and atmospheric, exposing the dark underside of Regency London.”—Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author

Library Journal

01/01/2017
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, isn't one to turn away from the more sordid offerings of 1813 London, but even he's appalled when the body of 15-year-old Benji Thatcher turns up in the ruins of an abandoned factory. Among the city's too-numerous-to-count homeless youth, Benji had been tortured, but it seems few are unduly concerned about his abduction and murder. Except Sebastian, who, in this 12th installment of Harris's popular series (after Where Falcons Fall), is determined to identify the boy's killer. His investigation takes him through the highest echelons of Regency-era power, where he must contend with Marquis de Sade-level sadomasochism operating behind a veil of protection that offers it legitimacy. VERDICT Not for the faint of heart, this latest installment in Harris's well-researched historical series features a charismatic lead who's unafraid of exposing the inner workings of a controlling authority when it turns against its own people. [See Prepub Alert, 10/17/16.]

Kirkus Reviews

2017-02-05
In Regency England, a viscount pursues the sadistic killer of London's most vulnerable denizens.Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his former comrade in arms, surgeon Paul Gibson, have seen more than their share of violent death in wartime. But neither one can look calmly at the body of Benji Thatcher, a street urchin who was cut, whipped, raped repeatedly, and strangled. The death of one more homeless pickpocket is unlikely to cause a stir among most of fashionable London, but Gibson and Sebastian specialize in solving crimes that others can't or won't. Sebastian's wife, Hero, is a social reformer who's writing a series of articles about the poor of London, and while she interviews some of the street children who knew Benji, Sebastian uses the testimony of an old soldier who saw and interrupted someone digging Benji's grave as a starting point for finding out what happened not just to Benji, but to a number of other homeless children who've disappeared. The owner of a secondhand store helps direct Sebastian to a brothel catering to clients who like their prostitutes young, and contraband copies of a book by the Marquis de Sade bring Sebastian closer to identifying the person responsible for the pitiful collections of children's bones buried near the shallow grave meant for Benji. Unfortunately, Sebastian's suspects—an actor, a French count, a dissolute marquis' heir about to marry into Sebastian's family, and an even more highly connected person who's also a relative of Hero—all have alibis. But Sebastian's power-hungry father-in-law presents the biggest obstacle to his sleuthing in a tale that, despite top boots and tall hats, velvet spencers and gowns à la grecque, and even a cat named Mr. Darcy, is a far cry from the world of Jane Austen. Harris (When Falcons Fall, 2016, etc.) is as determined as her lead couple to explore London's underbelly. Hold onto your carriage strap: the tangle of familial, criminal, and political conflict makes for bleak reading.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170836512
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Series:	Sebastian St. Cyr Series , #12
Edition description:	Unabridged

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Chapter 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Where the Dead Lie"
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Copyright © 2018 C. S. Harris.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
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