Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris

 

 

Overview:

 

In the latest mystery from the national bestselling author of When Falcons Fall, the gruesome murder of a young boy takes Sebastian St. Cyr from the gritty streets of London to the glittering pleasure haunts of the aristocracy...

London, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is no stranger to the dark side of the city, but he’s never seen anything like this: the brutalized body of a fifteen-year-old boy dumped into a makeshift grave on the grounds of an abandoned factory.

One of London’s many homeless children, Benji Thatcher was abducted and tortured before his murder—and his younger sister is still missing. Few in authority care about a street urchin’s fate, but Sebastian refuses to let this killer go unpunished.

Uncovering a disturbing pattern of missing children, Sebastian is drawn into a shadowy, sadistic world. As he follows a grim trail that leads from the writings of the debauched Marquis de Sade to the city’s most notorious brothels, he comes to a horrifying realization: someone from society’s upper echelon is preying upon the city’s most vulnerable. And though dark, powerful forces are moving against him, Sebastian will risk his reputation and his life to keep more innocents from harm...

My Review:

This is already the 12^th book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series and it just keeps getting better with each new edition.

The main plot of the story this time involves the brutal abduction and torture of Benji Thatcher.  When it is learned his little sister Sybil is missing, Sebastian begins an investigation that reveals multiple children have come up missing – all of them street urchins that no one cares about.  Being a new father, Sebastian’s heart breaks at the thought of the children being gone and probably dead with not a single person to care besides himself and his wife Hero.

At the heart of the mystery are the pornographic writings of the Marquis de Sade which are being secretly read and recreated by the most elite of society.  The Marquis lived from 1740 – 1814 and was notorious for his erotic works, most of which were quite violent in content.  Right after his death, his son had all unpublished manuscripts burned and the family was forbidden to talk about him until the late 1940s.

In addition to the main story, there are several subplots interwoven like only Harris can do without the whole story becoming a muddled mess.  One is the on-going conflict between Sebastian and his father-in-law Charles, Lord Jarvis who is the power behind the throne.  I have no doubt that eventually it will come down to one eliminating the other and it will be interesting to see which side Hero comes down on.  Her character is developing nicely but not as fast as I would like and though I understand her softening since getting married and having a baby, I don’t want to see her lose her strength and fight that have been a hallmark since she was introduced.

The other storyline that is progressing throughout all the books is Sebastian’s search for his mother.  I find this to be very interesting and wish Harris would make it more of a focal point instead of just dribbling a few sentences in each book.  It is moving way too slowly and is starting to get annoying.  It almost feels like the author hasn’t quite decided where to go with it yet so is just sprinkling in little bits at a time so readers don’t forget about it.

In the end, it is an excellent book in a fantastic series and I can’t wait for the next one.  It is called “Why Kill the Innocent” and is scheduled for release on April 3, 2018.  I noticed Barnes and Noble is already taking pre-orders so if you love this series as much as I do, I highly recommend you put your order in now!