⇒ PDF What Remains of Heaven A Sebastian St Cyr Mystery Book 5 CS Harris 9780451228024 Books

What Remains of Heaven A Sebastian St Cyr Mystery Book 5 CS Harris 9780451228024 Books

Download As PDF : What Remains of Heaven A Sebastian St Cyr Mystery Book 5 CS Harris 9780451228024 Books

What Remains of Heaven A Sebastian St Cyr Mystery Book 5 CS Harris 9780451228024 Books

Author's usual fine writing skill carries one through - the mystery was fine & dandy, lots of neat twists & turns, good evocation of period, etc., with some tantalizing titbits about St. Cyr's mother, and leads for further series development. However, I felt the author was struggling a bit with the romance sub-plot & her plan to get St. Cyr & Hero together; the "crypt scene" is the first in which I simply couldn't believe that what was happening would be happening if the characters as drawn were actual people in the context presented. Up to this point, I've been happily swept along by the author's unrepentant segues into swashbuckling action & melodramatic scenes, because I could believe them in the context & with the characters as she has drawn them - a little deus ex machina is OK by me, but this was somehow just too much. I quite enjoy suspension of disbelief, and feeling that the characters are real, and lost that in this book of the series.


Tags : What Remains of Heaven: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Book 5 [C.S. Harris] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The latest novel featuring Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, features a mystery surrounding the identity of two corpses found in an ancient crypt with possible ties to William Franklin,C.S. Harris,What Remains of Heaven: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Book 5,NAL Hardcover,0451228022,Bishops;Crimes against;Fiction.,Nobility;England;Fiction.,Saint Cyr, Sebastian (Fictitious character);Fiction.,AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,Bishops,Crimes against,England,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction Mystery & Detective General,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,GENERAL,General Adult,Mystery & Detective - General,MysterySuspense,Nobility,Saint Cyr, Sebastian (Fictitious character),United States

What Remains of Heaven A Sebastian St Cyr Mystery Book 5 CS Harris 9780451228024 Books Reviews

I've gotten hooked on the life, times, and loves of Sebastian St. Cyr. I truly appreciate C.S. Harris spinning out a nice long yarn here so I can go on to book after book. His lifestyle, the setting, along with his domestic help, the women who dart in and out and hover in the mist -- and especially his father and mysterious, missing mother -- the entire cast, even his horses, are fascinating. This episode, which opens with the death of a renowned bishop complicated by the discovery of a much older murder, has qualities that bumped it up a notch over the previous two, in my opinion. Maybe it's just that I have gotten more invested in the development of Sebastian's character--including his flaws. He has discovered some vital--and I use that word in the most literal sense--information about himself and his origins, information that sets the stage for fascinating developments to come.

That said, Harris does have a tendency to create rather convoluted murder plots, and while this one was a little more straightforward than some of her past murder scenarios--with panoramas of suspects--I still had head-scratching moments of, "OK, what's the sequence here, and what motive could this guy, or that guy, possibly have . . ."

I also noted the comment made by Publishers Weekly that the author has moments of "descriptive laziness," and I would have to agree. One example I think she has used the term "empty hearth" at least a dozen times in the course of the last two books. Just once I'd like to see bright flames crackling on the hearth, or even dying embers. She is a terrific writer, though, and lards her scenes with original, graphic imagery that definitely makes up for these occasional lapses. Start with the first book in this series and you will soon be converted.
Sebastian and Hero successfully solved the last mystery together, which resulted in some major complications in their respective lives. When the Bishop of London, Francis Prescott, is murdered and discovered in an ancient crypt which was sealed up years ago along with the body of Sir Nigel, who vanished two decades previously, it may or may not be a coincidence that both murdered men are revealed to be brothers. When the Archbishop of Canterbury, a close friend of Sebastian's beloved aunt, requests that Sebastian assist in the investigation, how can he refuse.

Of major concern to Sebastian is the fact that Hero Jarvis was the last known visitor to Francis Prescott's office. When he questions Hero about the reasons for her visit, Sebastian believes she is withholding something. Even as Sebastian struggles with the heartache of his relationship with Kat Boleyn, he finds himself becoming further intertwined with Hero Jarvis. As I have mentioned in a previous review, Sebastian's deeply entrenched honor is what makes him the admirable hero he has become to his fans. His observations of Hero and indeed, his honorable actions toward her are a huge part of what makes this reader love him.

In this book, St. Cyr learns more about his heritage, or to be more accurate - further truths about what his heritage does not include. I, for one, hope he eventually finds his mother, but it doesn't appear to be in the works for quite some time. Facts are ever so slowly revealed.
I'm a romantic, but that being said, I've enjoyed this series almost as much as William Tapply's Brady Coyne mysteries. Since the beginning of the series, five books ago, I've been especially partial to the interaction between Hero Jarvis and Sebastian St. Cyr. I've looked at this as the perfect match-up for a Mr. & Mrs. North or Nick & Nora Charles (Myrna Loy & William Powell) investigating duo. The author, Candice Proctor Harris, has kept me on the edge of my seat worrying about Sebastain retrogressing back to his first love, Kat Boleyn. She also has me captured for book six, at least. If the protagonist does go back to Kat, I stop reading. In this particular novel, Sebastian's aunt Henrietta Claiborne told her nephew flat out that Kat Boleyn was not suitable for his wife and I concur. Harris ended the story so as to leave me with hope, but one never knows. In any case, I enjoyed the primary characters of Hero and her father, Charles Lord Jarvis, Sebastain's father Lord Hendon and his sister Henrietta, and of course, the character I love to dislike, Kat Boleyn. I certainly like the way Sebastien and Paul Gibson, quasi medical examiner, knock down the brandy, which I also enjoy. As one can readily determine, I'm involved so much with the characters, the murder plots become secondary in interest, but they are just as good as the character interplay. A recommended read and escape.
Author's usual fine writing skill carries one through - the mystery was fine & dandy, lots of neat twists & turns, good evocation of period, etc., with some tantalizing titbits about St. Cyr's mother, and leads for further series development. However, I felt the author was struggling a bit with the romance sub-plot & her plan to get St. Cyr & Hero together; the "crypt scene" is the first in which I simply couldn't believe that what was happening would be happening if the characters as drawn were actual people in the context presented. Up to this point, I've been happily swept along by the author's unrepentant segues into swashbuckling action & melodramatic scenes, because I could believe them in the context & with the characters as she has drawn them - a little deus ex machina is OK by me, but this was somehow just too much. I quite enjoy suspension of disbelief, and feeling that the characters are real, and lost that in this book of the series.