Customer Reviews

What Remains of Heaven: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Book 5

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

C. S. Harris has crafted another excellent mystery detailing darkly charismatic hero Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, seeking the answer to a murder by investigating every echelon of Regency London society. The mystery itself is clever, requiring, as it does, Sebastian to seek answers to both a recent murder and one which happened thirty years before and tied to the American Revolution. However, the book's strongest points arrive via the series' overarching mystery, that of Sebastian's past, and that of his family, and in fact overshadow the mystery of the main plot. Some of the questions which have haunted him (and readers) since the first book (What Angels Fear) find answers (and more questions) here. This book also continues (and complicates) the situation between Sebastian and Miss Hero Jarvis which began in the fourth book (Where Serpents Sleep). Further, the murder mystery also stirs up an enemy from Sebastian's more recent past from his time with the army on the Continent. All of the series regulars take part, to varying degrees, including the aforementioned Hero, but also Jarvis, Sir Henry Lovejoy, the Earl of Hendon, Kat Boleyn, Tom, Paul Gibson, and St. Cyr family members Amanda and Henrietta.

I highly recommend that everyone already acquainted with Sebastian pick up this installment immediately. (Readers unfamiliar with the series should start with book one, What Angels Fear, and read through all five!!) It's a fast, absorbing read that is difficult to put down once you start. The prose is delightful, the atmosphere beautifully rendered, and the characters are expertly delineated.

(Also, the old saying about judging books by covers goes triply here. Note that the cover, while lovely, is completely unrelated to this book... Sebastian is still the protagonist, and at no time does a barefoot heroine stumble about old stairways.)

In 1812 Sebastian St, Cyr, Viscount Devlin is reestablishing a relationship with his father. Their rift was caused by a secret that came to light leading to the son ending his relationship with his beloved actress Kat Boleyn; whom he intended to marry. Now he wonders if his one night with Hero Jarvis, the daughter of his father's mortal enemy resulted in a child although she refuses to verify it one way or another.

Escaping his female woes, Sebastian is asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to investigate the deaths of two men decades apart in an ancient crypt in a church. One of the victims is Sir Nigel, who vanished decades ago. The second corpse is the Bishop of London Francis Prescot, Sir Nigel's younger brother. Sebastian assumes the deaths are connected beyond the sibling link and believes the association harks back to the American Revolution. St. Cyr is taken aback when he finds a tie to his family. His father, Sir Nigel and Lord Jarvis went to the colonies to see if pursing the war would end up in England's triumph.

Viscount Devlin is a brooding hero in the tradition of Lord Byron as he distrusts everyone starting with his father who has kept a seemingly zillion secrets from him. His investigative methods are similar to that of a twentieth century police detective as he follows clues to wherever they lead. C. S. Harris has written a wonderfully constructed Regency mystery filled with concealment, red herrings, and misunderstanding that keeps the lead protagonist going down wrong lanes, but never giving up.

Harriet Klausner

As with all of the other intallments in the St. Cyr mystery series, I was left supremely frustrated when I finished What Remains of Heaven. Frustrated because I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. NOW! As always, Harris creates a terrific and engrossing mystery that moves along at a fast (but not too fast) pace. This one focuses on two murders, one recent, one thirty years old - but both connected. More mystery unfolds (and more bodies pile up)ultimately winding together the New World and the Old. I didn't feel, as some other reviewers did, that the mystery took a backseat to the personal relationships that always form an important part of the St. Cyr books. But there is no doubt that Sebastian St. Cyr's personal story is a critical element of this series and that story is really what makes this book more than just an engrossing mystery. These characters seem real and Harris writes believable dialog and makes the characters act in ways that are believable without being predictable. These books are not just Regency romances pretending to be mysteries (as many, many other books are) and the relationships featured here go well beyond the traditional romantic ones. St. Cyr's relationships with his friend Gibson, his servants (especially Tom), the Earl, his aunt, the Bow Street detective - even Jarvis are all more deeply developed here. Of course, it's the relationships with Kat and (yay)Hero that we all watch and all I will say is that things are definitely getting interesting there. Quite a few loose ends from previous books are tied up - but more secrets and complications arise (hmm, how about the younger yellow-eyed highwayman that is mentioned in passing...) And trust me, when you finish the last few lines of this book you'll realize why I say I am frustrated. St. Cyr books are just about the only books I buy in hardcover (Amazon and Harris smile) because I cannot wait to find out what happens next. (Although as a fan, Hero is my hero!) Buy this book!

The Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series has become my favorite mystery series, and I am impatient at the end of each book for the next installment. This was especially true for What Remains of Heaven, in which tantalizing ends dangle for both Sebastian and his enemy's daughter, Hero.

Although the mystery in What Remains of Heaven has a satisfying number of twists and surprises, the best part of the book for me was the continuing revelations of the secrets in Sebastian's past and present.

As other reviewers have noted, you'll enjoy the book best if you read the series from the beginning. All are excellent.

I have to say I'm hooked on this series. I went back and reread books one through four prior to reading this one, which is the fifth installment. The mysteries are well written and keep you guessing, however, it is the cast of characters that keep you coming back. They are intriguing, yet realistic, having both likeable and not so likeable characteristics that make one relate to them. The subplot of St. Cyr's personal story keeps one both crying and yet hopeful. The other reviews have done a great job in summarizing, but I had to add my voice noting this as a must read series especially for those that like a little romance with their mysteries. Please though - read them in order. It makes the stories much more delicious.

This is one of the very best books I have read in years. It sets multiple murder mysteries square in the color and flavor of Regency England. The plot is twisted and delightful, the clues are there but the killer an unexpected surprise. But what makes this book outstanding is that it really brings alive its time period with people who are not necessarily nice (in the accepted romance sense) but are always interesting, motivated and intriguing. I give this five stars and happily look forward to the next in the series. Thanks Ms. Harris.

The latest installment in the Regency mystery series featuring Sebastian St.Cyr, Viscount Devlin, does not disappoint, unlike the recent highly touted, highly anticipated followup from a certain megabucks author! Sebastian is pulled into the murder investigation when two bodies - one known, the other not- are discovered in a sealed crypt, and from there on, bodies and suspects abound. Although I admit to a certain degree of chagrin over the number of plot twists, the author did a good job of tying them all to the central plot. The mystery itself was interesting, and I am very pleased with the continued development of the character of Hero Jarvis and her complicated relationship with Sebastian. Certain plot developments foreshadowed in the previous novels come to pass, with many hints at even more interesting events to come. C.S.Harris is a very descriptive author, and her knowledge of that time comes through very well in her prose. The genre of historical mystery can be tricky, and the author does a really good job of melding real life individuals with her fictitious ones without making her many historical references purely gratuitous. I highly recommend this series to any reader of this genre.

I have been hooked on the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries since the first time I saw them, and when I finally got to read this latest, well, it was like getting to see a loved one after a long absence. I write this mostly in response to a couple of negative reviews. Firstly, the mystery: I can't fault the observations of one who said this doesn't seem the type of case Devlin would normally involve himself in but I think that is explained by my observations on the second complaint, namely Devlin's growing involvement with Hero Jarvis. Without giving too much away, I have to say that even though he never says to himself 'Gor, I'm really beginning to fancy this Hero gel in a deep, meaningful way,' (or something to that effect) I believe that is what is happening here. His involvement in the case brings her into his presence often, and ultimately to the discovery of Hero's 'secret.' I do not think it is out of character for Devlin to wish to 'do the right thing,' in that he is drawn more and more to Hero. Who, personally, I would love to see him married to far more than his obsession, Kat. I think in the next installment we will see if not love, then a developing deeper affection for Hero in her own right, not just as a means to annoy her father.

When we left Sebastian St Cyr at the conclusion of "When Mermaids Sing", he had solved a series of murders with the help of Miss Hero Jarvis, the daughter of his adversary, Lord Jarvis. He was also beginning to patch up things with his father, the Earl of Hendon, over the discovery of the Earl's daughter Kat. "What Remains of Heaven" picks up a few months after the other one left off, and we find that some secrets are better left unsaid.

In the English countryside, a body is found murdered in a recently-opened crypt. Startled, the priest at the church rushes off to tell the Bishop of London about the discovery. But when the priest returns to his parish, he finds the bishop dead on the floor of that same crypt with his head bashed in. Who would kill two people in the same place thirty years apart? Are the deaths related? Are the victims related? And why would anyone want to kill in such a strange place?

To answer these questions, the Archbishop of Canterbury enlists the help of Sebastian, who in turn rounds up his friends - Irish surgeon Paul Gibson, Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy, and his tiger, Tom, to solve the mysteries. But the more they look into the deaths, the more complicated things get. It turns out that both victims were linked by more than location of death. When the priest who discovered the first body turns up dead, things get complicated.

In a puzzle that involves an old soldier from Sebastian's regiment, Ben Franklin's exiled son William, and a young physician and his wife, Sebastian discovers the power that old secrets have on those who know them. In the course of solving the case, he discovers a long-held secret about himself that will change his perspective on his family forever. And, he begins to realize, history may repeat itself...

In "What Remains of Heaven", C.S. Harris has written her best Sebastian St Cyr mystery to date. I can't wait for the release of the next one!

In 1812 England, in a small church crypt, the Bishop of London is found murdered. He had come to see the body of an unknown murder victim in the crypt from some forty years before. Why was the Bishop of London there? And why was he killed? Was his death connected to the first murder?

The Bishop's murder is high-profile and too much to do with the upper-class for Bow Street runners to be all that effective. The Archbishop of Canterbury had been considering the murdered Bishop as a successor and goes to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, to ask him to inquire into the matter. Sebastian doesn't quite care for getting so caught up in danger and murder; it takes too much out of him and there's no reason for him to look into this case, only his aunt, the Duchess of Claiborne is a dear friend of the Archbishop and Sebastian will do whatever she asks as she is closer to him than his immediate family.

Sebastian is single-minded in his ferreting out the solution to mysteries. Perhaps it is a needed distraction from his personal life, which has always been chaotically in the background, creating a nice complexity to the already involved and action-packed mysteries. This mystery, with its two victims whose relationship is unknown if it exists at all, is nicely intriguing. Characters from earlier books appear to aid Sebastian: the doctor Paul Gibson, who is a genius with finding answers from the dead and Hero Jarvis, the independent daughter of the powerful adviser to the Prince Regent. And there are historical figures, such as William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's loyalist son.

This outing, the fifth book, is a worthy successor to a strong historical mystery series. It is shorter and a bit more spare than MERMAIDS SING, but still contains all the elements--the glimpses into Regency England's society, both high and low, and a very exciting mystery. I'd highly recommend reading them all and starting from the beginning with WHAT ANGELS FEAR, although it's possible for the books to stand alone.