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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic story. I can't wait for the next one in the series!, March 4, 2011
This review is from: Where Shadows Dance: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Hardcover)
The 6th book in the Sebatian St.Cyr series was as good as I hoped it would be. I had been practically counting the days till March 1st, to obtain this book & read it and was worried whether the author will be able to keep up her great work. After all even good authors have their "off" books. But I loved this segment of the story too. Small SPOILER ahead: Sebastian St.Cyr, Viscount Devlin continues his exciting life of solving murders and his complicated but very interesting relationship with Hero Jarvis does lead to their marriage at the end of the book. But what a story between the betrothal & the wedding.
The story starts when Sebastian's friend, surgeon Gibson accidentally stumbles upon the body of a man who was believed to have died of natural causes, but was murdered and the investigation of it leads Sebastian into a plot filled with international intrigue. I completely agree with a previous reviewer that the body count in the story did seem extremely high. Spoiler again: In fact many of the new characters Sebastian spoke to ended up murdered. Every chapter had me going," another one!". But it wasn't in the nature of a cheap blood and gore story and there was some relevance for all the murders in the plot. Hero did pull a Lara Croft towards the end of the story as a previous reviewer said. What a woman! A true mate for Sebastian. Their marriage seems to have started up really sweet, in the last chapter.
I am a Hero fan and would have no regrets seeing Kat Boleyn disappear from the story. But as it is petty to want to see her as part of the body count, I will be content as long as Sebastian falls out of love with her :-)I really like Paul Gibson the surgeon, so commited to his science and a great friend to Sebastian. Sir Lovejoy the magistrate is another endearing character that interests me. In fact other characters in the storyline such as Lord Jarvis, Earl of Hendon are all such multi faceted characters, though they play only short parts in this book. Usually after book 6 in a series it is hard for an author to keep up so many mysteries to reveal in future books about the same characters. But there is still so much more we want to know about them that is still to be unveiled.
Basically this is a great historical murder mystery based in England with great strong characters that stay in your mind for a long time. Riveting hero and a heroine who is even more riveting in that she is an unusual woman of her times. C.S. Harris has a true fan in me. And I do hope we won't have to wait tooooo long for the next book in the series. If you haven't read the other books in the series, I highly suggest reading them in order: "What angels fear", "When Gods Die", "Why Mermaids Sing", "Where serpents sleep" and "What remains of Heaven. Those who like historical mysteries, mixed with a little bit of romance, which are nicely written might like this series.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where Relationships Heat Up and the Body Count Rises, March 19, 2011
This review is from: Where Shadows Dance: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Hardcover)
I've been a devotee of C.S. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries since the start of the series and found this book to be a very satisfying entry. I finished it in a day and it left me wishing that the next book would appear much sooner than currently scheduled!
Other reviewers have covered the complex plot in detail, so I will just say that there was an amazing amount of action and character development in this book. Usually after six books about the same protagonist, the reader comes to think they know just about everything there is to know about him, but Harris always has an intriguing revelation or two about St. Cyr and his family, and this book hints of even more to come.
It was good to find Sebastian and Hero reaching a point where hope for their future happiness as a couple seems realistic despite the inevitable complications that will arise with both their families, and I especially look forward to seeing how the author handles this. She has a real knack for bringing all the secondary and even peripheral characters to life, and I'm hoping that some of the new ones introduced here, such as Hero's younger cousin Sabrina Cox, will appear in subsequent books.
The body count was a bit of a surprise--if things keep up at this pace, Paul Gibson will never lack for dissection subjects as long as he knows the St. Cyrs! I had a good laugh over the scene where Sebastian, in full formal regalia, startles the second set of Resurrection men at 3 A.M. in the cemetery. They could have been justifiably wondering if they were being confronted by a noble vampire! The way things fell apart at the conclusion of the exhumation was entertaining too.
I didn't find the actions Hero took to escape her predicament to be out of place or out of character. She's a strong, capable, intelligent young woman with no illusions as to what would have happened if she hadn't fought back, not some milk and water miss who would cry "Oh!" as she fainted dead away and allowed her captors to do their worst.
I look forward to the continued adventures of Sebastian, Hero & Co.! Will Hero gain the Tiger's trust? Will Sebastian's relationship with Henton be restored? Will the couple find a balance in their relationships with Jarvis and Henton? Will more St. Cyr family members reveal themselves? I can hardly wait to find out!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing!, March 1, 2011
This review is from: Where Shadows Dance: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery (Hardcover)
I just finished the book, and I loved it!
First of all the mystery:
A young man in the Foreign Affairs office has been murdered. There are a tangled web of suspects from the French, the Turks, the Swedes and possibly an insider in the War office. Some of the political machinations made my eyes cross, and I admit to a little skimming on these parts. Overall, the mystery was not as engrossing as in the previous books. Sebastien however gets ample help from Hero, which I loved. She is his equal in every way, to the point that she single handed kills three men who abducted her. Way to go Hero!
The love-triangle: Hero-Sebastien-Kat
I do not want to give anything away, but this was very satisfactorily concluded. The last few pages made me sigh with happiness.
The author dropped some interesting tid bits about Sebastien. He has his Father's yellow eyes. He can see in the dark and his hearing is extraordinary. Hmmm... I hope we don't get a paranormal angle in here in the future (Sebastien as a werewolf?!).This has been mentioned in previous books as well, so I wonder....
I absolutely love this series.
My only question: how long to we have to wait for "When Maidens Mourn" to be released?!
I hope "When Maidens Mourn" focuses more on finding Sebastien's Mother, figuring out who his real Father is, and of course evolution in his relationship with Hero.
Well done Ms. Harris!
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