Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery [Hardcover]

C.S. Harris (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery | Publication Date: November 4, 2008

Fourth in the “moody and atmospheric” historical mystery series starring “a troubled but compelling antihero.”(Booklist)

London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor—and one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent’s cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian powerbroker quashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter’s unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.

Working in an uneasy alliance, Hero and Sebastian follow a trail of clues leading from the seedy brothels and docksides of London’s East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family with dark secrets to hide. Risking both their lives and their reputations, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The savage murder of eight prostitutes at a London house of refuge provides Sebastian St. Cyr with yet another challenging puzzle in Harris's outstanding fourth mystery to feature the Regency-era gentleman sleuth. St. Cyr, who's been despondent ever since a stunning personal revelation toward the end of 2007's Why Mermaids Sing, is roused from his funk by Hero Jarvis, the fearless and independent daughter of his mortal enemy. Jarvis, who was doing research at the house of refuge at the time of the murders and barely survived the massacre herself, asks for St. Cyr's help in tracking down those responsible. The amateur detective finds no shortage of suspects, ranging from the pimp of some of the dead girls to Bow Street magistrate Sir William Hadley, who had patronized them. While the developing attraction between St. Cyr and Jarvis is a little too predictable, Harris does a nice job of weaving the many plot strands together while exploring the complex character of her protagonist. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

Hero Jarvis, while doing research at Magdalene House, a refuge run by the Quakers for prostitutes in Regency England, narrowly escapes with her life when eight women living there are viciously killed, their murders concealed by arson. As one of the young women died in her arms, Hero decides she must determine why this victim, clearly wellborn, was working as a prostitute and why someone wanted her dead. Unfamiliar with murder investigations, she enlists the help of Sebastian St. Cyr, who has spent the last eight months trying unsuccessfully to deal with the loss of his lover. Sebastian, intrigued by the case and seeing the opportunity to anger Hero’s father, his sworn enemy, agrees to help her. The two investigate, both separately and together, in the slums and mansions of London, uncovering corruption and almost losing their lives on several occasions. The vividly described sights and sounds of Regency London, the stormy relationship between the well-developed main characters, and a complex mystery add to this fourth in the St. Cyr series. --Sue O'Brien

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover; First Edition edition (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451225120
• ISBN-13: 978-0451225122
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

An Air Force brat who grew up exploring castles in Spain and fishing in the mountains of Oregon and Idaho, Candy later worked as an archaeologist and earned a PhD in European history. She now writes the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series under the name C.S. Harris and coauthors a series of contemporary thrillers as C.S. Graham. Married to retired Army Colonel Steve Harris, she lives in New Orleans. Visit her website at www.csharris.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page-turning, exciting, twisting, historical mystery..., December 12, 2008

By 

A. Lee (L.A., CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Hardcover)

In this fourth book featuring Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin (previous: WHAT ANGELS FEAR, WHEN GODS DIE, WHY MERMAIDS SING), Sebastian is still shaken by the personal events that occurred in the previous book, drinking too much, sleeping too little and unable to forgive his father for the last episode in a long-troubled relationship.

Hero Jarvis, the very independent daughter of Sebastian's enemy, the manipulator behind the scenes of Regency power and politics, Lord Jarvis, comes to Sebastian to ask him to look into the deaths of eight prostitutes--murders that the authorities are not interested in pursuing. One of the dead was a prostitute who was obviously of gentle birth. It is her situation that intrigues Hero. She and Sebastian investigate her past, separately and together, in hope it will lead to the killer or killers.

Hero was introduced in the earlier books, but never played more than a small part until now, but she was always intriguing. She and Sebastian have a charged relationship, with more elements of dislike than like, which makes their pairing interesting.

Sebastian has his dark side, but his interest in solving murder mysteries and finding some sort of justice for the victims remains foremost in his life, no matter what else is going on, which happily keeps him from ever seeming to mope or become angst-ridden. The main characters, as well as the secondary characters, are all well-drawn and fascinating.

The mystery is also involving, with glimpses into the London underworld of prostitution houses and procurers and patrons, and also into private lives of the well-to-do that could lead a woman to fall into the life. There are also plenty of action scenes and threats of death and bodily harm. Amazing that the characters could be at Almack's or a Picnic at some time in the day and then battling for their lives in the taverns and deserted roads only hours later.

The historical details are all convincing and the overall writing quality is excellent.

I found this book less intense and complex than the last book (which remains a favorite), but it was still a page-turner. I adore this series and hope it continues for a long, long time.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well worth the wait!, December 15, 2008

By 

Farin (New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Hardcover)

Like previous reviewers, I've been a huge fan of this series from the beginning. Sebastian St. Cyr is easily one of my favorite historical mystery heroes: he's smart and witty, but extremely human in that he has to combat his demons from the past and his feelings of inadequacy around his father. He also has freakishly keen senses, which makes him even more interesting! In the last installment, Why Mermaids Sing, he had something extremely traumatic happen to him, and I was anxious and excited to see how he would deal with it in Where Serpents Sleep.

We find out right off that he's been drinking and gambling himself into oblivion, and it's a request from his arch enemy's daughter, Hero Jarvis, to help solve a string of murders at a Magdalene House that pulls him out of his vicious cycle to destroy himself.

The mystery takes the reader into the underworld of prostitution and exposes the utter indifference that the upper classes felt for those women, despite the fact that one of the murdered prostitutes was well born. It also touches on a possible conspiracy behind the assassination of Spencer Perceval and an England desperately trying to hold itself together while clashes with both France (under Bonaparte) and the U.S. threaten to unravel everything.

Sebastian is as well written as ever. He's battling a lot more in this book than usual, but it only drives him to work harder at solving the case. When he does get lost in those dark and traumatic thoughts, it's heartbreaking.

I had a sneaking suspicion that, after the events of Why Mermaids Sing, Hero Jarvis would be brought to the forefront. She and Sebastian were very evenly matched and perfectly aware of how to use each other and drive each other crazy. I loved watching them work together, and I hope to see some more of that in the next book.

I could not put down this book, and now I'm kicking myself for finishing it so fast, because though Harris is working on the fifth book, there's no indication yet of when it will be available. I need to know what happens! Now!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master Class in Progress, April 13, 2009

By 

MJS "Constant Reader" (New York, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Hardcover)

It's not every day I find myself doing this: buying extra copies of a book and giving them to friends with entreaties to "read this, you'll love it." Lately I've bought four extra copies of C. S. Harris first book, What Angels Fear, and gifted them to fellow mystery fans. It's my version of doing the Lord's Work.

There are many reasons to read this latest entry in the series: excellent evolving characterizations, a smart central mystery and the sort of edge-of-your-seat action dozens of thrillers promise every year yet so few actually deliver. After four books it's clear that C. S. Harris is qualified to teach a master class on a number of topics. Take her ability to start a thriller out with a bang - just the right amount of set up and then right into the action. Where Serpents Sleep starts with Hero Jarvis in the midst of one of her blue stocking studies having a conversation with a prostitute when all hell breaks loose. It's nothing short of brilliant and the tension never lets up without once seeming forced.

Harris packs in a few twists in both the central mystery and the on-going interactions of the recurring characters. I'm a fan of mystery series though I always get antsy when the recurring characters take up too much of the narrative - call me shallow but I'm in it for the mystery. Harris always strikes just the right balance between delivering the mystery goods and involving the reader in the lives of her recurring characters. (Martha Grimes and Elizabeth George, take note!)

If you love mysteries or thrillers or historical fiction, if you're a fan of Kate Ross or Dorothy Dunnett (or even Georgette Heyer), give C. S. Harris a try. Start at the beginning with What Angels Fear, if you can, but you won't lose too much by starting with this excellent entry. If you still aren't convinced and you have a Kindle, take an advantage of the free sample chapter. What have you got to lose, right? And you can look forward to joining me in all but stopping strangers on the street and urging them to read these books. The Sebastian St. Cyr series is that good - read one book and you may find yourself giving copies to your friends.