Monday

When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris

March 12, 2012

I heart Sebastian St. Cyr!
But really, is he the brightest detective around? Does he get shot at a lot? Hit over the head a lot? Knifed a lot?Chased a lot? And, be careful if you befriend him...you may not make it to the end of the book.

Spoilers ahead. (Really how can you review a mystery and not have spoilers?) This series is just getting better and better; however, I don't know if the mystery part is getting better. Maybe I'm just not a whodunit fan, because the solving of the murder wasn't what drew me into the book. Oh sure, I was sort of interested in who killed Gabrielle, but I was more interested in the people surrounding her and our hero/detective Sebastian St. Cyr and his brand new wife Hero Jarvis-St. Cyr.

This also has one of those Agatha Christie solutions...you know, one of those itsy-bitsy clues that you totally miss because of all the red herrings getting thrown in front of you. So, I wasn't surprised at who the murderer was, but I was surprised at the reason...didn't see that one coming. Big spoiler! I did see something coming; in fact, I was going to comment on the number of times people stared off into space in the book. However, I just didn't connect the dots. 

My favorite part of When Maidens Mourn is all the behind-the-scenes stuff that's going on. The secrets Hero and Sebastian keep from each other. The tension between the two of them as they tip-toe around each other. Their growing relationship, and the direction that relationship is going. Her father's shenanigans. And, now we seem to have another mysterious character in the person of Jamie Knox. He also has yellow eyes, just like Sebastian. He's too young to be Sebastian's father, but maybe a brother...and he has secrets too. We also have all the old favorites, Lovejoy, Gibson, Tom and Kat (who I don't care for.) There was also a rather funny moment surrounding a dog, Dr. Gibson and digging up the back yard. 

I have to say that the addition of Hero as a wife to Sebastian makes this series really strong. And, I want to read the next in the series now. Too bad it's not coming out for another year. I enjoyed When Maidens Mourn. I'm not sure if it's a stand alone or not - there are just too many great things going on in the background. I do recommend this entire series and I think it's probably better to read the whole series in order, just so you can follow the goings on behind the murders. This book was full of intrigue, mystery, secrets, and excitement, in addition to a tense love story. If you are following this series, you will not be disappointed. For those of you who haven't read the Sebastian St. Cyr series, like all series there are some entries that are great and some not so great, but you should really check out the entire series. When Maidens Mourn is one of the better ones. 

Time/Place: The Dark Dredges of Regency England
Sensuality: Warm


1 comment:

Portugal said...

When Maidens Mourn is the newest installment in the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. Now the balance has changed as Sebastian's new wife Hero Jarvis is involved with him as they move forward solving the murder of a young female scholar.
Like the prior novels When Maidens Mourn is a deeply involved murder mystery with enough villians that choosing who is the culprit is as challenging as the mystery itself. Throw in the tense drama of high level government politics and the truth may be a commodity with too high a price to pay.
In this novel some of the key notable players of the prior stories take a back seat why others are brought forth. As is Sebastian's leanage and memory of his mother could not become more polluted a possible half brother is introduce into the mix.
At the heart of all this drama is a dead woman whose only crime may have been not to accept her station in life.
A rollicking good mystery!