What the Devil Knows (Sebastian St. Cyr, #16)
C.S. Harris
Sebastian St. Cyr thought a notorious serial killer had been brought to justice until a shocking series of gruesome new murders stuns the city in this thrilling historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Who Speaks for the Damned. It's October 1814. The war with France is finally over and Europe's diplomats are convening in Vienna for a conference that will put their world back together. With peace finally at hand, London suddenly finds itself in the grip of a series of heinous murders eerily similar to the Ratcliffe Highway murders of three years before. In 1811, two entire families were viciously murdered in their homes. A suspect--a young seaman named John Williams--was arrested. But before he could be brought to trial, Williams hanged himself in his cell. The murders ceased, and London slowly began to breathe easier. But when the lead investigator, Sir Edwin Pym, is killed in the same brutal way three years later and others possibly connected to the original case meet violent ends, the city is paralyzed with terror once more. Was the wrong man arrested for the murders? Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for assistance. Pym's colleagues are convinced his manner of death is a coincidence, but Sebastian has his doubts. The more he looks into the three-year-old murders, the more certain he becomes that the hapless John Williams was not the real killer. Which begs the question--who was and why are they dead set on killing again?
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0 0C.S. Harris's long-running historical mystery series, set in Regency England and starring the enigmatic viscount turned detective Sebastian St. Cyr, has long been a favorite of mine. They're rarely flashy, but always solidly reliable, delivering on mystery, characters, and historical richness. Harris relies on real events of the historical record to inspire and inform her plots, which she then fleshes out with satisfyingly paced mystery plots and diverse, engaging casts of characters. (For new readers - you could totally read this as a standalone without problem, but it would spoil you for some character development from the beginning of the series, and frankly, if you'd like this one, you'll like the previous 15, so you might as well start at the beginning!)
This latest entry into the series, What the Devil Knows, is no exception. It might not set the Thames on fire, as it were, but it's solid, it's what I expected - no more, no less. The story is based on the real life Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811; Sebastian once again finds himself investigating a series of killings that draw out all his rage at the immense power and wealth disparity between London's social strata. This particular mystery feels a little more detached, in some ways, than earlier books in the series; there's a little touch of going through the motions, which I suspect is due in part to the relative lack of momentum in Sebastian's ongoing personal plot, his struggle to determine his true paternity. Added to this is the under-utilization of some of his long-standing supporting characters (Paul Gibson, you are missed), and a general softening of Hero as a character over the last several volumes, and it does weaken things a bit. (At #16 in a series, it's not surprising, and also seems like Harris might realize the problem, since this story saw the addition of a couple of new recurring characters.) But it's still a good historical mystery, if not a great Sebastian St. Cyr book, and the highest praise I can really give a whodunnit - while I was able to solve some pieces as I went along, it kept me guessing up to the last minute.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advance review copy!
CW: This is a dark series about murder, so expect all sorts of violence, assault, and death, but I just wanted to make a particular note warning about brutal infanticide and suicide.
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