Sunday, March 23, 2014

Why Kings Confess (A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery #9) by C. S. Harris


Historical Mystery

What Goodreads says:

The gruesome murder of a young French physician draws aristocratic investigator Sebastian St. Cyr and his pregnant wife, Hero, into a dangerous, decades-old mystery as a wrenching piece of Sebastian’s past puts him to the ultimate test.

Regency England, January 1813: When a badly injured Frenchwoman is found beside the mutilated body of Dr. Damion Pelletan in one of London’s worst slums, Sebastian finds himself caught in a high-stakes tangle of murder and revenge. Although the woman, Alexi Sauvage, has no memory of the attack, Sebastian knows her all too well from an incident in his past—an act of wartime brutality and betrayal that nearly destroyed him.

As the search for the killer leads Sebastian into a treacherous web of duplicity, he discovers that Pelletan was part of a secret delegation sent by Napoleon to investigate the possibility of peace with Britain. Despite his powerful father-in-law’s warnings, Sebastian plunges deep into the mystery of the �Lost Dauphin,” the boy prince who disappeared in the darkest days of the French Revolution, and soon finds himself at lethal odds with the Dauphin’s sister—the imperious, ruthless daughter of Marie Antoinette—who is determined to retake the French crown at any cost.

With the murderer striking ever closer, Sebastian must battle new fears about Hero’s health and that of their soon-to-be born child. When he realizes the key to their survival may lie in the hands of an old enemy, he must finally face the truth about his own guilt in a past he has found too terrible to consider....

Why Kings Confess is another great addition to the Sebastian St. Cyr series.  There has been another murder and again Sebastian is drawn into the investigation.  Jarvis (his father-in-law) tells him to leave it alone but of course he does not.

This mystery revolves around exiled members of the French Royal family.  While I knew some of the facts about the French Revolution and the Royal Family Why Kings Confess contained facts that were not covered in the history books I studied.  All of that background played a big part of the mystery and added to my enjoyment of the story.  

I do have to confess I was as interested in how Honor and Sebastian’s marriage was progressing as I was in the mystery.  I have pulled for the two from the beginning and loved seeing how they were doing.  Look for one of the side characters to also find romance this time.

I wait for a year for a new book in the series to come out.  I tried to read Why Kings Confess in little bits at a time to make the book last longer.  I did not succeed as it only took me two days to finish.  Now I have to wait another full year for the next book. 

There is a lot of back story in the series and Harris is very good at dropping it in as the book progresses so the book can be read as a stand along.  However, for maximum enjoyment start at beginning. You will be as hooked as I am.

Obsidian published Why Kings Confess by C. S. Harris in 2014

Books in the Series:  What Angels Fear, When Gods Die, Why Mermaids Sing, Where Serpents Sleep, What Remains of Heaven, Where Shadows Dance, When Maidens Mourn, What Darkness Brings


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