Where the Dead Lie (Sebastian St. Cyr, #12) in 2-3-4 Challenge

May 01, 2017 Mary Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 250-up-to-date

I have been on a roll of 5 star reviews. It is such an exciting feeling to have 3 books in a row being all 5 stars. That does rarely ever happens but my reading has been just fantastic lately. I just love this series. I feel like with each hook that the characters just seem to grow on me. This is the 12th book in the series and it is for surely growing very strong. The books just seem to get better and better. This one is my favorite one. I just loved the mystery. I could not stand that monster I have been on a roll of 5 star reviews. It is such an exciting feeling to have 3 books in a row being all 5 stars. That does rarely ever happens but my reading has been just fantastic lately. I just love this series. I feel like with each hook that the characters just seem to grow on me. This is the 12th book in the series and it is for surely growing very strong. The books just seem to get better and better. This one is my favorite one. I just loved the mystery. I could not stand that monster Ashworth and hope he ends up in the next book with a bad accident. I felt so bad for those street kids being homeless.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his former comrade in arms, surgeon Paul Gibson, have seen more than their share of violent death in wartime. But neither one can look calmly at the body of Benji Thatcher, a street urchin who was cut, whipped, raped repeatedly, and strangled. The death of one more homeless pickpocket is unlikely to cause a stir among most of fashionable London, but Gibson and Sebastian specialize in solving crimes that others can’t or won’t. Sebastian’s wife, Hero, is a social reformer who’s writing a series of articles about the poor of London, and while she interviews some of the street children who knew Benji, Sebastian uses the testimony of an old soldier who saw and interrupted someone digging Benji’s grave as a starting point for finding out what happened not just to Benji, but to a number of other homeless children who’ve disappeared. The owner of a secondhand store helps direct Sebastian to a brothel catering to clients who like their prostitutes young, and contraband copies of a book by the Marquis de Sade bring Sebastian closer to identifying the person responsible for the pitiful collections of children’s bones buried near the shallow grave meant for Benji. Unfortunately, Sebastian’s suspects—an actor, a French count, a dissolute marquis’ heir about to marry into Sebastian’s family, and an even more highly connected person who’s also a relative of Hero—all have alibis. And though dark, powerful forces are moving against him, Sebastian will risk his reputation and his life to keep more innocents from harm.

As always, historically fascinating and superbly paced. This one was a little more sad than some others; because Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, must track down a serial killer targeting London's street children.
I suggest to read this series in order, the senate not stand alones. You will want to start out with the first book What Angels Fear ...more

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Apr 11, 2017 Veronica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery

ETA: Completed audiobook reread on 10/18/17. I always love revisiting these books in audiobook format for two reasons: 1) I love the books and the characters and, 2) Davina Porter always does an excellent job. This was my first time listening to this particular installment in audiobook format but it delivered in giving me several hours of comfort and enjoyment during my otherwise stressful work commute. Having Sebastian and Hero with me always makes it better.

Reread in January 2019

It's been a mo ETA: Completed audiobook reread on 10/18/17. I always love revisiting these books in audiobook format for two reasons: 1) I love the books and the characters and, 2) Davina Porter always does an excellent job. This was my first time listening to this particular installment in audiobook format but it delivered in giving me several hours of comfort and enjoyment during my otherwise stressful work commute. Having Sebastian and Hero with me always makes it better.

Reread in January 2019

It's been a month since Sebastian and Hero have returned from their adventures in Shropshire that were so well chronicled in the last book. They are back home in London among the seeming warmth and safety of familiar places and friends. But the author has never shied away from depicting the seedier and darker aspects of regency London and she's never turned away from highlighting the unfairness of the chasm that existed between the privilege of wealth and the hopelessness of poverty. While all the murders Sebastian has been tasked to solve over the course of eleven books have been tragic and sad, I think the murder in this book has set a new standard in horror and it leads Sebastian down the darkest road yet. This time evil sets its eyes on the most vulnerable members of society and, as first time parents, both Sebastian and Hero feel the losses deeply.

I adore Sebastian and Hero. I loved their contentious beginning and I've loved every step they've taken along the way to finding a mutually supportive love in each other. They are one of my favorite literary couples in any genre and with each book they only reinforce their place in my heart. The little moments between them were like a salve to my soul after some of the more horrific aspects of the story. Even though the author was never graphic in detailing the crimes, just imagining them was bad enough. But there were other wonderful, quietly emotional moments between various characters that served as welcome oases set amid the darkness. Some moments that I didn't even know I wanted or needed.

Those moments were sorely needed as the reader feels Sebastian's mounting dread and horror. In a time when calling in the local CSI unit to process a crime scene wasn't possible, it is Sebastian's doggedness and unfailing demand for justice that leads to answers. As Sebastian criss-crosses London he encounters all sorts of characters and the mystery unfolds in suspenseful ways.

There are other events in the personal lives of both Sebastian and Hero that I expect will play out in future books. And since the personal lives of these characters is just as riveting as the murder investigations, I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the after effects. I'm also really desperate to see Sebastian deliver on a certain threat.

Twelve books in and this series is still going strong. ...more

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Apr 28, 2017 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-mystery, serial-killers, regency, bluestocking-heroine, books-about-books, writer-heroine

Where the Dead Lie
5 Stars

After fighting in the Napoleanic Wars and solving several horrific murders, Sebastian St. Cyr should be familiar with the darkest depravity that human beings have to offer. But nothing has prepared him for the discovery that someone amongst the city's wealthy elite is preying on London's most vulnerable denizens, and committing some of the most brutal and sadistic crimes that Sebastian has ever seen.

Each installment in C.S. Harris's incredible Regency mystery series is ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Angela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: five-star-reads, historical-mystery

Once again an excellent addition to this superb series. If there is one historical mystery series you should be reading than it is Sebastian St. Cyr. While this book felt a bit more gritty then previous books, it had me gripped from start to finish.

14 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2023 Anita rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio, mystery, kindle-libby-city

I found myself not being as drawn to this book as I was the others. The plot just didn't grab me, and I wasn't as invested in these characters as I have been in the past. Still a great mystery with some twist to it, but the hopelessness of the street children was an element I could have done without. There is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin has made it his avocation to investigate murder, especially those murders involving the members of the ton where justice ...more

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Jun 02, 2017 Jonetta rated it it was amazing

Shelves: group-read, historical-mystery, 17000-in-2017, nc-br-digital-library, 4000-books, 250-series-up-to-date

When the tortured and mutilated body of Benji Thatcher, a 15-year old street urchin, is discovered after the attempt to bury him is interrupted, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin gets involved at the request of Paul Gibson. What was done to this child offended Sebastian's sensibilities and he immediately launches an investigation only to find that there appears to be a pattern of street children inexplicably disappearing. No one seems to have noticed.

Throughout this series, the plight of the p When the tortured and mutilated body of Benji Thatcher, a 15-year old street urchin, is discovered after the attempt to bury him is interrupted, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin gets involved at the request of Paul Gibson. What was done to this child offended Sebastian's sensibilities and he immediately launches an investigation only to find that there appears to be a pattern of street children inexplicably disappearing. No one seems to have noticed.

Throughout this series, the plight of the poor and abandoned children has been in the background. This story faces those issues head on as we're given more insight into the ugly truths of the era. These children were virtually invisible to the gentry and noble class as both Sebastian and Hero highlight, him through the investigation and her through research of an article she's writing in the topic.

The author's further commitment to historical authenticity is the incorporation of the works and story of the Marquis de Sade, infamous for his debauchery and sexual deviancy and from which the term sadism was created. The suspects were tied to de Sade either as admirers of his last book or as followers of his sexual practices. Make no mistake, this is an uncomfortable story as these are behaviors inflicted on children and it's not an indictment about sexual proclivities. It was hard to take in but respectfully presented without any hint of gratuitous violence.

It's not all doom and gloom as there are important progressions in Sebastian's personal life. It was brilliantly and deftly presented, providing a balance sorely needed to offset the distasteful aspects of the investigation. It also is clear that this series hasn't yet ended...not a cliffhanger but definitely the promise of more to come.

I love this series and this book was outstanding. I also recommend not reading it until you've read all of the others before it as the character development evolves to a pretty loud crescendo in this one. Yes, you'd enjoy this on its own merits but you'd be missing some critical subtleties that just makes the reading experience extraordinary. ...more

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May 09, 2017 Charlene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: follow-this-series, friends-tbr-lists, mystery, historical-fiction, mothers-daughters, adult-themes, crime, friends-recommendations, rated-not-reviewed, series-by-author

This is one of the best series I've read, in any genre. It must be read in order, in my opinion.

The cliff-hanger is partial, with respect to family member(s) and one major suspect.

It will be a long wait for the next book to appear; I have to live with that! ...more

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May 03, 2017 Kris (My Novelesque Life) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, 1800s, historical-fiction, historical-mystery, library-book-borrowed, fiction, britain

RATING: 5 STARS

This book! I...was awed with this one. For the first eleven books, I read them with a Goodreads group, and we read them one book a month. Then I had to wait SEVEN months for the next book. How bittersweet it is catching up in a series. You are now all caught up and know everything that is published...but there is no new Sebastian and Hero adventure waiting for me. I remember waiting for my library hold, and checking to make sure I wasn't being forgotten somehow. I read this book i ...more

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Apr 06, 2017 Jo Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, myst-detective, part-of-a-series, top-read-2017, 2017-read, 2025-read

This gripping and fast-paced read deals with a heavy subject matter - the sexual exploitation of children - but it turned out to be one of my favorite books in the series. Sebastian is in rare form as he works quickly and tirelessly to find the killer, his race against time had me turning the pages well into the night. As usual, the supporting cast is first rate, and I especially love the tete-a-tete between Sebastian and Hero's mother, and the affecting interaction between Sebastian and his fat ...more

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