Product Description

The young wife of an aging marquis is found murdered in the arms of the Prince Regent. Around her neck lies a necklace said to have been worn by Druid priestesses-that is, until it was lost at sea with its last owner, Sebastian St. Cyr's mother. Now Sebastian is lured into a dangerous investigation of the marchioness's death-and his mother's uncertain fate.

As he edges closer to the truth-and one murder follows another-he confronts a conspiracy that imperils those nearest him and threatens to bring down the monarchy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22415 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780451222558
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Fans of quality historical suspense who mourn the end of the late Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel mysteries and the late Bruce Alexander's Sir John Fielding novels should find solace in the work of promising newcomer Harris, whose series (beginning with 2005's What Angels Fear) is set in Regency England. The ability of Harris's detective, Sebastian St. Cyr, the Viscount Devlin, to mingle freely with the cream of society leads to his receiving a highly sensitive commission. Given the perilous state of the English monarchy in 1811, the discovery of the dissolute Prince Regent with a murder victim in his arms makes the death of the beautiful young wife of an aristocrat even more scandalous. St. Cyr is charged by the powers that be with solving the crime and absolving the royal suspect. The author deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters for a fast-moving story that will have readers eagerly anticipating future volumes in the series. (Nov.)
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Review
When Gods Die: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, by C.S. Harris... is the second in a series of mysteries set in Regency England. Harris made an auspicious debut last year with What Angels Fear. -- Times Picayune

Harris knows her English history and has a firm grasp of how a mystery novel is supposed to play out. In this second Sebastian St. Cyr novel, she cleverly pulls the threads of her plot together, ending in a crescendo of suspense and surprise. Fans of historicals, especially those set in Regency-era England, will snap up this triumph. -- Library Journal, starred review

Like Georgette Heyer, Harris (What Angels Fear, 2005) delves deep into the mores of Regency England, but hers is a darker, more dangerous place. St. Cyr is a charismatic hero whose future exploits are eagerly awaited. -- Kirkus, starred review

Review
"[A] treat...riveting action."
--Times-Picayune [New Orleans]

"Deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters."
--Publishers Weekly [starred review]

"A crescendo of suspense and surprise."
--Library Journal [starred review]

Customer Reviews

realistic entertaining whodunit
In Brighton in June 1811, the Prince Regent hosts a fete at the Royal Pantheon when he finds the woman he planned to make his mistress dead with a dagger in her back. The Prince falls apart so it is up to LordJarvis to learn what happened. He asks Viscount Sebastian St. Cyr to find out who killed Marchioness Guinevere Anglessey. St. Cry declines until he sees the necklace the victim is wearing.

The last time St. Cyr saw the necklace his mother wore it on the day she died at sea. The dagger belongs to Prinny, but Guinevere actually died from arsenic poisoning. Many English believe the Hanover dynasty is tainted with madness and assume the crazy Regent killed his latest whore; some go so far as to believe the country would better off with a Stuart restoration. Civil war seems imminent as St. Cyr considers how Guinevere fit in a highly charged political picture as she didn't dabble in affairs of state only in affairs with heads of state and had no connection to the Stuarts except the necklace.

C. S. Harris cleverly uses words to paint vivid colorful pictures of a decadent era symbolized by its hedonist prince and a country divided like a checkerboard in many chaotic ways. The hero is intent on solving the mystery of the necklace perhaps more than the homicide though he knows uncovering the killer might give him clues as to how Guinevere got his mother's death jewelry. The cast brings out the ambience of the era inside a realistic entertaining whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

another satisfying St. Cyr case
I'll acknowledge the criticisms from those who found the interjection of seemingly modern issues jarring. I do admit that while I did not find it unbelievable that a black man would own a tavern in that era, I did find the conversations that took place between Sebastian St. Cyr and the tavern owner highly unbelievable. And yet, overall, the plot was totally absorbing and the story itself a satisfying mystery tale. Not the strongest of the St. Cyr mysteries, but certainly not a weak effort. I'd recommend this book.

Strike Two-- Takes the Historical Out of Historical Mystery
I started to sit down and write a long diatribe about all of the historical errors in this book-- errors of history, not just anachronisms. Then I decided that I would just bore anyone who read that wall of words. So this is the short version.

If you don't mind the fact that the author writes a Note at the end to mention that she made up Ann of Savoy and fails to mention that she also made up a lot of other stuff including the fear of a curse against England because George III went mad, then you might be all right with this book.

She does get the Jacobite heir at the time wrong-- it was Charles Emanuel, King of Sardinia (Savoy was a Duchy which became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the 17th century), not his brother Victor Emanuel. Charles had abdicated Sardinia but kept the personal title of King some years before the last legitimate Stuart died and the right passed to him by both descent and the will of Henry, Cardinal called Duke of York.

To be fair, the PC attitudes that other people complain about are not out of period. This was a time when people where examining what liberty and rights of man (and even women) meant.

However, the idea that the hero could recognize an accent as from the south in the USA based on his father having spent time in Georgia "in his youth" is entirely too much for me to swallow.

So no, this isn't a very good HISTORICAL mystery. Nor is it terribly good mystery.

If the reader is interested in a contemporary mystery that also works in the death of the Duke of Cumberland's valet, I would suggest Kingdom of Lies by Lee Wood. I recommend the Audible download.

And in case anyone cares (or is still reading), there was an alliance between Goditha Price and James, Duke of York, as mentioned in the Author's Note, but without children-- the Stuarts weren't shy about claiming their children by mistresses so there's is no conspiracy there. Goditha died young, unmarried and childless before James took the throne as James II. The records that remain of her (Pepys, MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE GRAMONT. and the Earl of Rochester) are not kind.

I think that making up half royal children for Americans to claim descent from is almost a cottage industry.