What Remains of Heaven (Sebastian St. Cyr Series #5)

by C. S. Harris

Overview

Fifth in the critically acclaimed mystery series.

London 1812. When the controversial reform-minded Bishop of London is found bludgeoned to death in an ancient crypt beside the corpse of an unidentified man murdered decades before, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, reluctantly agrees to investigate. As his search for the killer leads him from the back alleys of Smithfield to the power corridors of Whitehall, Sebastian must confront the well-guarded secrets of his own family's past—and a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who—and what—he really is.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451234377
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/02/2011
Series:	Sebastian St. Cyr Series , #5
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

C.S. Harris graduated with a degree in Classics before earning a Ph.D. in European history. A scholar of the French Revolution and 19th-century Europe, she has lived in Europe and various far-flung parts of the old British Empire. She now lives in New Orleans with her husband, a retired Army Intelligence Officer, and two daughters.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for the Sebastian St. Cyr Series

"Best historical thriller writer in the business! Sebastian St. Cyr is…uncannily clever, unwaveringly reserved, and irresistibly sexy. The entire series is simply elegant.”—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

“Deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“A crescendo of suspense and surprise.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Thoroughly enjoyable…kept me enthralled.”—Deanna Raybourn

“A ripping read...captivated me to the final page.”—Will Thomas

“Harris crafts her story with the threat of danger, hints of humor, vivid sex scenes, and a conclusion that will make your pulse race.”—The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Harris delves deep into the mores of Regency England…”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Editorial Reviews

Long-festering family secrets, treachery and worse threaten Sebastian St. Cyr in Harris's addictive fifth Regency-era mystery starring the dashing soldier-turned-sleuth (after 2008's Where Serpents Sleep). From the start, St. Cyr's mission is sensitive: finding out who killed the bishop of London, a leading candidate for archbishop of Canterbury, in the crypt of the same country church where the mummified body of another murder victim was discovered only hours earlier. It becomes downright dangerous once the charismatic viscount unearths the surprising connection between the men as well as the many powerful enemies with motives for their murder—including his own father. Harris weaves palpable period detail and romantic subplots with such ease that her occasional descriptive laziness, such as repeats of “fiercely blue St. Cyr eyes,” grates inordinately. But it shouldn't keep you from being swept up by her seductive antihero at his swashbuckling best. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

In his fifth outing (after Why Mermaids Sing), former spy Sebastian St. Cyr is asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to find who killed the Bishop of London, whose body was found in an ancient crypt along with a decades-old unidentified corpse. Along the way he gets a bit of help from Miss Hero Jarvis, meets Benjamin Franklin's embittered son, and learns more about his origins. VERDICT Harris combines all of the qualities of a solid Regency in the tradition of Georgette Heyer by pairing two strong characters trying to ignore their mutual attraction while solving a crime together. Anyone who likes Amanda Quick and/or is reading the reissued Heyer novels will love this series. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 7/09.]

Library Journal

Who killed the cleric in the crypt?When the 1812 renovations to St. Margaret's, Tanfield Hill, accidentally bash a hole through the sealed entry to its crypt, there are two ghastly surprises. The dead body of Bishop Prescott, staunch abolitionist and leading contender for the soon-to-be-vacated post of Archbishop of Canterbury, lies sprawled across yet another dead body, this one partially mummified with a jeweled, Italianate dagger in its back. Bow Street, recognizing a matter too delicate for its own clumsy hands, calls upon Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin (Where Serpents Sleep, 2008, etc.). Within the compass of a few short weeks the aristocratic sleuth is shot at, horsewhipped, attacked with a meat cleaver, half-drowned and forced to kill three men himself. Undeterred, he accepts the responsibilities of fatherhood that have been impending ever since his reckless night with stubborn feminist Hero Jarvis, whose father had good reason to want Prescott dead; uncovers enough illegitimacies to keep the Town atwitter for generations; suspects both his father and Hero's of treason in aid of the colonies; and finds time to visit a prescient nanny-turned-witch who has secrets to impart about his own parentage. The mystery includes a smattering of political and church intrigue among a welter of family ties so intricate that a scorecard might have helped.

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the Sebastian St. Cyr Series

"Best historical thriller writer in the business!  Sebastian St. Cyr is…uncannily clever, unwaveringly reserved, and irresistibly sexy.  The entire series is simply elegant.”—New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner

“Deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“A crescendo of suspense and surprise.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Thoroughly enjoyable…kept me enthralled.”—Deanna Raybourn

“A ripping read...captivated me to the final page.”—Will Thomas

“Harris crafts her story with the threat of danger, hints of humor, vivid sex scenes, and a conclusion that will make your pulse race.”—The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Harris delves deep into the mores of Regency England…”—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

From the Publisher