Who Cries For the Lost - Historical Mystery

Goodreads: Who Cries for the Lost (A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery #18) by C.S. Harris

Rating: Really Liked It! (4.5 Stars)
Source:   Purchased

Description:  June 1815. The people of London wait, breathlessly, for news as Napoleon and the forces united against him hurtle toward their final reckoning at Waterloo. Among them is Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, frustrated to find himself sidelined while recovering from a dangerous wound he recently received in Paris. When the mutilated corpse of Major Miles Sedgewick surfaces from the murky waters of the Thames, Sebastian is drawn into the investigation of a murder that threatens one of his oldest and dearest friends, Irish surgeon Paul Gibson.

Gibson’s lover, Alexi Sauvage, was tricked into a bigamous marriage with the victim. But there are other women who may have wanted the cruel, faithless Major dead. His mistress, his neglected wife, and their young governess who he seduced all make for compelling suspects. Even more interesting to Sebastian is one of Sedgewick’s fellow officers, a man who shared Sedgewick’s macabre interest in both old English folklore and the occult. And then there’s a valuable list of Londoners who once spied for Napoleon that Sedgewick was said to be transporting to Charles, Lord Jarvis, the Regent’s powerful cousin who also happens to be Sebastian’s own father-in-law.

The deeper Sebastian delves into Sedgewick’s life, the more he learns about the Major’s many secrets and the list of people who could have wanted him dead grows even longer. Soon others connected to Sedgewick begin to die strange, brutal deaths and more evidence emerges that links Alexi to the crimes. Certain that Gibson will be implicated alongside his lover, Sebastian finds himself in a desperate race against time to stop the killings and save his friends from the terror of the gallows.

Genre:  Mystery - Historical 

Why I Picked This Book:   I've read the last few books in this series and enjoyed them - especially the previous book so I couldn't resist this book.

My Impression: This may be my favorite book in the series so far.  While I haven't read the entire series I've read the last five or so.  I've always enjoyed them and found them well plotted with interesting and complex characters but never thought they were the fastest reads.  However, not only does this book have all the intriguing twisting plot points and complex characters - including a more vulnerable side of Sebastian and his hilarious if cruel aunt - but the pace was lightening fast.  From pretty much the first page I was hooked and didn't want to put the book down.

The first victim, Miles Sedgewick is definitely one of those people where it's not so shocking that he was murdered but more surprising that it took someone so long to finally do him in.  The question is which of his bad behaviors is what got him killed.  With fingers pointing squarely at the woman Sebastian's dear friend Gibson is in love with Sebastian must dig around in bad behavior and the world of the occult to find out what really happened.  And to find out if Sedgewick's killer is also the one responsible for the deaths of the other bodies being pulled up from the bottom of the river.

Along the way Sebastian finds himself being threatened and attacked.  Is it because of his previous actions in France or his current investigation?  Not only did the mystery itself hook me but I was fascinated by the French history that is the background of the story.  The politics and brutality was fascinating and has me wanting to learn more abut French history in general.

Before reading this book you really need to read at least the previous book as the actions in that book do connect with some of the events in this book.  This was a fast paced, interesting, and entertaining mystery that kept me guessing from beginning to end.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  I'm looking forward to the next book in the author and want to go back to read the earlier books in this series that I missed.

Would I Recommend this Book?  I would definitely recommend this series but this book might be best if you've read a few books in the series first just so you understand who everyone is and how they're connected.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *