Thursday, August 5, 2010

What Remains of Heaven, a St. Cyr historical mystery

Just a quick review of What Remains of Heaven by C. S. Harris.  I just love the St. Cyr mysteries, especially now that fiesty, independent, and intelligent Hero Jarvis, the daughter of Lord
Charles Jarvis, Sebastian St. Cyr, Vicount Devlin's archenemy, has a more prominent role. She's so much more interesting than Kat Bolyn.

Anyway, in this one, the fifth of the series, Devlin's Aunt Henrietta ~ the only member of his family who has never let him down and who has shown him unconditional love (though she doesn't hesitate to flay him with her tongue when he needs it) ~ talks a reluctant Devlin into investigating the murder of the Bishop of London, who was found in a recently reopened crypt with his head bashed in, lying beside the body of someone who had been stabbed to death some 30 years earllier. While on the case, Devlin discovers yet another of his father's lies ~ this one the most explosive of all yet one that explains a lot of odd things about his family history and about Devlin himself that were heretofore incomprehensible.

I love Harris's writing, and her historical research and use of period details is impeccable.  The mysteries are good, but the thing I like best about the novels is the character development.

Thanks to NetGalley, I've got the unproofed galley of the next in the series on my Kindle and plan to read it while on vacation.  I'm working really hard to wait until I get to the airport tomorrow before starting on it.  :)

2 comments:

bermudaonion said...

This sounds like a series I need to explore!

Mary Kontrary said...

It's a really good historical mystery series, Kathy ~ well-written and fun with just a hint of romance. The first was "What Angels Fear." Just don't expect a literary masterpiece. ;)