Regency England. The age of Napoleon and Jane Austen, of Beau Brummel and Lord Byron. Ladies wear filmy dresses and dampen their petticoats, while gentlemen duel with pistols at dawn and agonize over the cut of a coat. Fortunes are won and lost at the turn of a card, a decades-old war has turned Europe into a ravaged battlefield, and in London, a child of six can still be hanged for stealing a handkerchief.
This is the world of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. Heir to an earldom, disillusioned Army officer, latter day knight errant.
A master of disguises. Sebastian moves easily from the ballrooms of Mayfair to the rookeries of St. Giles, from the exclusive men's clubs of St. James's to the dangerous docks of the Thames.
Think Mr. Darcy with a James Bond edge...
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 19
Now available
A seemingly idyllic summer picnic ends in a macabre murder that echoes a pair of slayings fourteen years earlier in this rivetingnew historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Who Cries for the Lost.
July 1815: The Prince Regent's grandiose plans to celebrate Napoleon's recent defeat at Waterloo are thrown into turmoil when Lady McInnis and her daughter Emma are found brutally murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in a chilling imitation of the stone effigies once found atop medieval tombs. Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy immediately turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help with the investigation. For as Devlin discovers, Lovejoy's own wife and daughter were also murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in the same bizarre postures. A traumatized ex-soldier was hanged for their killings. So is London now confronting a malicious copyist? Or did Lovejoy help send an innocent man to the gallows?
Aided by his wife, Hero, who knew Lady McInnis from her work with poor orphans, Devlin finds himself exploring a host of unsavory characters from a vicious chimney sweep to a smiling but decidedly lethal baby farmer. Also coming under increasing scrutiny is Sir Ivo McInnis himself, along with a wounded Waterloo veteran—who might have been Laura McInnis's lover—and a charismatic young violinist who moonlights as a fencing master and might have formed a dangerous relationship with Emma. But when Sebastian's investigation turns toward man about townBasil Rhodes, he quickly draws the fury of the Palace, for Rhodes is well known as the Regent's favorite illegitimate son.
Then Lady McInnis's young niece and nephew are targeted by the killer, and two more women are discovered murdered and arranged in similar postures. With his own life increasingly in danger, Sebastian finds himself drawn inexorably toward a conclusion far darker and more horrific than anything he could have imagined.
Berkley, hardcover, April 2024, 9780593639184
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 18
Now available in paperback
"Harris does her usual superior job of combining a page-turning fair-play plot with plausible period detail. Both series fans and newcomers will be captivated." Starred Review
—Publishers Weekly
Sebastian St. Cyr must confront an assassin hellbent on revenge and clear the name of one of his closest friends in this heart-pounding new historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of When Blood Lies.
June 1815. As Napoleon and the forces united against him hurtle toward what will be their final reckoning at Waterloo, the people of London wait anxiously for news as. Among them is Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, frustrated to find himself sidelined while recovering from a dangerous wound he recently received in Paris. When the mutilated corpse of Major Miles Sedgewick surfaces from the murky waters of the Thames, Sebastian is drawn into the investigation of a murder that threatens one of his oldest and dearest friends, Irish surgeon Paul Gibson.
Gibson's lover, Alexi Sauvage, was tricked into a bigamous marriage with the victim. But there are other women who may have wanted the cruel, faithless Major dead. His mistress, the neglected wife, and a young governess he seduced all make for compelling suspects. Even more interesting to Sebastian is one of Sedgewick's fellow officers, a man who shared Sedgewick's macabre interest in both old English folklore and the occult. And then there's the valuable list of Londoners who once spied for Napoleon that Sedgewick was said to be transporting to Charles, Lord Jarvis, the Regent's powerful cousin who also happens to be Sebastian's own father-in-law.
The deeper Sebastian delves into Sedgewick's life, the more he learns about the Major's many secrets and the list of people who could have wanted him dead grows even longer. Soon others connected to Sedgewick begin to die strange, brutal deaths and more evidence emerges that links Alexi to the crimes. Certain that Gibson will be implicated alongside his lover, Sebastian finds himself in a desperate race against time to stop the killings and save his friends from the threat of the gallows.
Berkley, hardcover, April 2023, 9780593102725
Berkley, paperback, March 2024, 9780593197059
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 17
"The detailed historical narrative blends seamlessly with a complex, fast-paced mystery."
—Kirkus Review
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has spent years trying to unravel his family's history. But the tragic secrets of his past will come to light in this gripping new historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of What the Devil Knows.
March, 1815. The Bourbon King Louis XVIII has been restored to the throne of France, Napoleon is in exile on the isle of Elba, and Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife, Hero, have traveled to Paris in hopes of tracing his long-lost mother, Sophie, the errant Countess of Hendon. But his search ends in tragedy when he comes upon the dying Countess in the wasteland at the tip of the Ile de la Cite. Stabbed—apparently with a stiletto—and thrown from the bastions of the island's ancient stone bridge, Sophie dies without naming her murderer.
Sophie had been living in Paris under an assumed name as the mistress of Marechal Alexandre McClellan, the scion of a noble Scottish Jacobite family that took refuge in France after the Forty-Five Rebellion. Once one of Napoleon's most trusted and successful generals, McClellan has now sworn allegiance to the Bourbons and is serving in the delegation negotiating on behalf of France at the Congress of Vienna. It doesn't take Sebastian long to realize that the French authorities have no interest in involving themselves in the murder of a notorious Englishwoman at such a delicate time. And so, grieving and shattered by his mother's death, Sebastian takes it upon himself to hunt down her killer. But what he learns will not only shock him but could upend a hard-won world peace.
Berkley, hardcover, April 2022, 9780593102695
Berkley, paperback, March 2023, 9780593102718
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 16
"Harris makes good use of the available evidence concerning the historical crimes, crafting a clever and suspenseful plot." Starred Review
—Publishers Weekly
Sebastian St. Cyr thought a notorious killer had been brought to justice until a shocking series of gruesome new murders stuns the city in this thrilling historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Who Speaks for the Damned.
It's October 1814. The war with France is finally over and Europe's diplomats are convening in Vienna for a conference that will put their world back together. With peace finally at hand, London suddenly finds itself in the grip of a series of heinous murders eerily similar to the Ratcliffe Highway murders of three years before.
In 1811, two entire families were viciously murdered in their homes. A suspect—a young Irish seaman named John Williams—was arrested. But before he could be brought to trial, Williams hanged himself in his cell. The murders ceased, and London slowly began to breathe easier. But when the lead investigator, Sir Edwin Pym, is killed in the same brutal way three years later and others possibly connected to the original case meet violent ends, the city is paralyzed with terror once more.
Was the wrong man arrested for the murders? Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for assistance. Pym's colleagues are convinced his manner of death is a coincidence, but Sebastian has his doubts. The more he looks into the three-year-old murders, the more certain he becomes that the hapless John Williams was not the real killer. Which begs the question—who was and why are they dead set on killing again?
Berkley, hardcover, April 2021, 9780593102664
Berkley, paperback, March 2023, 9780593102688
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 15
"Once again, Harris weds a twisty plot with convincing period detail. This long-running series shows no sign of losing steam."
—Publishers Weekly
Sebastian St. Cyr investigates the mysterious life and death of a nobleman transported formurder in this enthralling new historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Why Kill the Innocent....
It's June 1814, and the royal families of Austria, Russia, and the German states have gathered in London at the Prince Regent's invitation to celebrate the defeat of Napoléon and the restoration of monarchical control throughout Europe. But the festive atmosphere is marred one warm summer evening by the brutal murder of a disgraced British nobleman long thought dead.
Eighteen years before, Nicholas Hayes, the third son of the late Earl of Seaford, was accused of killing a beautiful young French émigré and transported to Botany Bay for life. Even before his arrest, Hayes had been disowned by his father, and few in London were surprised when they heard the ne'er-do-well had died a convict in New South Wales. But those reports were obviously wrong. Recently Hayes returned to London with a mysterious young boy in tow—a child who vanishes shortly after Nicholas's body is discovered.
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is drawn into the investigation by his valet, Jules Calhoun, an old friend of the dead man. With Calhoun's help, Sebastian begins to piece together the shattered life of the late Earl's ill-fated youngest son. Why did Nicholas risk his life and freedom by returning to England? And why did he bring the now-missing young boy with him? Several nervous Londoners had reason to fear that Nicholas Hayes had returned to kill them. One of them might have decided to kill him first.
Berkley, hardcover, April 2020, 9780399585685
Berkley, paperback, March 2021, 9780399585708
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 14
"Fans of this long-running series will revel in the meticulous historical detail along with the twists and turns of a case that reveals the vast inequality in Regency England."
—Kirkus Review
The death of a handsome but dissolute nobleman strikes close to home for Sebastian St. Cyr in this riveting new historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Why Kill the Innocent....
London, 1814.
When sadistic young Lord Ashworth is found brutally murdered in his silk hung, blood-soaked bed, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is called in to help catch the killer. Just seven months before, Sebastian had suspected Ashworth of aiding in the kidnapping and murder of a string of vulnerable street children. But Sebastian was never able to prove Ashworth's complicity. Nor was he able to prevent his troubled, headstrong young niece, Stephanie, from entering into a disastrous marriage with the dangerous nobleman.
With mounting evidence—from a small bloody handprint to a woman's silk stocking—suggesting that Ashworth's killer was a woman, Sebastian must delve deep into the murdered man's debauched life and unravel the treacherous schemes of a deadly Russian duchess to keep Stephanie from being convicted of murder.
And as the allied armies march on Paris and Napoleon's end draws near, Sebastian races to confront a chilling, ruthless killer who will stop at nothing and spare no one.
Berkley, hardcover, April 2019, 9780399585654
Berkley, paperback, March 2020, 9780399585678
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 13
"...nationally best-selling, punch-in-the-gut series."
—Library Journal
A brutal murder draws nobleman Sebastian St. Cyr into the tangled web of the British royal court...
London, 1814.
As a cruel winter holds the city in its icy grip, the bloody body of a beautiful young musician is found half-buried in a snowdrift. Jane Ambrose's ties to Princess Charlotte, the only child of the Prince Regent and heir presumptive to the throne, panic the palace, which moves quickly to shut down any investigation into the death of the talented pianist. But Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife Hero refuse to allow Jane's murderer to escape justice.
Untangling the secrets of Jane's world leads Sebastian into a maze of dangerous treachery where each player has his or her own unsavory agenda and no one can be trusted. As the Thames freezes over and the people of London pour onto the ice for a Frost Fair, Sebastian and Hero find their investigation circling back to the palace and building to a chilling crescendo of deceit and death . . .
Berkley, hardcover, April 2018, 9780399585623
Berkley, paperback, February 2019, 9780399585647
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 12
"... a gripping read."
—Booklist
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 . . .
Berkley, hardcover, April 2017, 9780451471161
Berkley, paperback, March 2018, 9780451471208
Sebastian St. Cyr Book 11
"Another complex, well-researched tale.."
—Kirkus Reviews
The tragic death of an enigmatic young stranger draws Sebastian St. Cyr and his wife, Hero, into a perilous tangle of passion and intrigue in this breath-taking new mystery from C. S. Harris.
Ayleswick-on-Teme, 1813.
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has come to this seemingly peaceful Shropshire village to honor a slain friend and on a quest to learn more about his own ancestry. But when the body of a lovely widow is found on the banks of the River Teme, a bottle of laudanum at her side, the village's inexperienced new magistrate turns to St. Cyr for help.
Sebastian quickly realizes that Emma Chance did not take her own life. Less easy to understand is exactly how she died, and why. For as Sebastian and Hero soon discover, Emma was hiding both her true identity and her real reasons for traveling to Ayleswick. Also troubling is the presence in the village of Lucien Bonaparte, the estranged brother of the megalomaniac French Emperor Napoleon, now held captive under the British government's watchful eye.
Then Sebastian's investigation takes on new urgency when he discovers that Emma was not the first, or even the second, beautiful young woman in the village to die under suspicious circumstances. Home to a haunting, ruined monastery, Ayleswick reveals itself to be a dark and dangerous place of secrets that have festered among the villagers for decades—and a violent past that may be connected to Sebastian's own unsettling origins. As he faces his most diabolical opponent ever, Sebastian is forced to consider just how far he's willing to go in order to destroy a killer.
Berkley, hardcover, March 2016, 9780451471161
Berkley, paperback, March 2017, 9780451471178
Book 10
"With such well-developed characters, intriguing plot lines, graceful prose, and keen sense of time and place based on solid research, this is historical mystery at its best." Starred review
—Booklist
The grisly murder of a West Indies slave owner and the reappearance of a dangerous enemy from Sebastian St. Cyr's past combine to put C. S. Harris's "troubled but compelling antihero" (Booklist) to the ultimate test in this taut, thrilling mystery.
London, 1813.
The vicious decapitation of Stanley Preston, a wealthy, socially ambitious plantation owner, at Bloody Bridge draws Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, into a macabre and increasingly perilous investigation. The discovery near the body of an aged lead coffin strap bearing the inscription King Charles, 1648 suggests a link between this killing and the beheading of the deposed seventeenth-century Stuart monarch. Equally troubling, the victim's kinship to the current Home Secretary draws the notice of Sebastian's powerful father-in-law, Lord Jarvis, who will exploit any means to pursue his own clandestine ends.
Working in concert with his fiercely independent wife, Hero, Sebastian finds his inquiries taking him from the wretched back alleys of Fish Street Hill to the royal castle of Windsor as he amasses a list of suspects who range from an eccentric Chelsea curiosity collector to the brother of an unassuming but brilliantly observant spinster named Jane Austen.
But as one brutal murder follows another, it is the connection between the victims and ruthless former army officer Sinclair, Lord Oliphant, that dramatically raises the stakes. Once, Oliphant nearly destroyed Sebastian in a horrific wartime act of carnage and betrayal. Now the vindictive former colonel might well pose a threat not only to Sebastian but to everything—and everyone—Sebastian holds most dear.
NAL, hardcover, March 2015, 9780451417565
NAL, mass market paperback, March 2016, 9780451418128
Book 9
"The past casts a long shadow in Harris's best Regency whodunit yet...Harris melds mystery and history as seamlessly as she integrates developments in her lead's personal life into the plot." Starred review
—Publishers Weekly
The gruesome murder of a young French physician draws aristocratic investigator Sebastian St. Cyr and his pregnant wife, Hero, into a dangerous, decades-old mystery as a wrenching piece of Sebastian's past puts him to the ultimate test.
Regency England, January 1813.
When a badly injured Frenchwoman is found beside the mutilated body of Dr. Damion Pelletan in one of London's worst slums, Sebastian finds himself caught in a high-stakes tangle of murder and revenge. Although the woman, Alexi Sauvage, has no memory of the attack, Sebastian knows her all too well from an incident in his past—an act of wartime brutality and betrayal that nearly destroyed him.
As the search for the killer leads Sebastian into a treacherous web of duplicity, he discovers that Pelletan was part of a secret delegation sent by Napoleon to investigate the possibility of peace with Britain. Despite his powerful father-in-law's warnings, Sebastian plunges deep into the mystery of the "Lost Dauphin," the boy prince who disappeared in the darkest days of the French Revolution, and soon finds himself at lethal odds with the Dauphin's sister—the imperious, ruthless daughter of Marie Antoinette—who is determined to retake the French crown at any cost.
With the murderer striking ever closer, Sebastian must battle new fears about Hero's health and that of their soon-to-be born child. When he realizes the key to their survival may lie in the hands of an old enemy, he must finally face the truth about his own guilt in a past he has found too terrible to consider....
NAL, hardcover, March 2014, 9780451417558
Signet, mass market paperback, March 2015, 978-0451418111
Book 8
"Excellent...The combination of complex back-story, intricate plotting, surprising developments, and poignant evocations of the lives of the underprivileged makes this one of the best entries in Harris's superior historical series." Starred review
—Publishers Weekly
The death of a notorious London diamond merchant draws aristocratic investigator Sebastian St. Cyr and his new wife Hero into a sordid world of greed, desperation, and the occult, when the husband of Sebastian's former lover Kat Boleyn is accused of the murder.
Regency England, September 1812.
After a long night spent dealing with the tragic death of a former military comrade, a heart-sick Sebastian learns of a new calamity: Russell Yates, the dashing, one-time privateer who married Kat a year ago, has been found standing over the corpse of Benjamin Eisler, a wealthy gem dealer. Yates insists he is innocent, but he will surely hang unless Sebastian can unmask the real killer.
For the sake of Kat, the woman he once loved and lost, Sebastian plunges into a treacherous circle of intrigue. Although Eisler's clients included the Prince Regent and Napoleon, he was a despicable man with many enemies and a number of dangerous, well-kept secrets—including a passion for arcane texts and black magic. Central to the case is a magnificent blue diamond, believed to have once formed part of the French crown jewels, that disappeared on the night of Eisler's death. As Sebastian traces the diamond's ownership, he uncovers links that implicate an eccentric, powerful financier named Hope and that stretch back into the darkest days of the French Revolution.
When the killer grows ever more desperate and vicious, Sebastian finds his new marriage tested by the implications for his first love, especially when he begins to suspect that Kat is keeping secrets of her own. And as matters rise to a crises, Sebastian must face a bitter truth—that he has been less than open with the fearless woman who is now his wife.
NAL, hardcover, March 2013, 9780451239273
Signet, mass market paperback, March 2014, 9780451418180
Book 7
"The English countryside descriptions, witty charm of the hero and emotional connection between Sebastian and his new wife—a strong, independent woman—are all superb." Top Pick, 4 1/2 stars
—RT Reviews
Tales of King Arthur and the Lady of Shalott provide inspiration for this latest gripping installment in the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series when, just four days wed, the aristocratic investigator and his fiercely independent bride, Hero Jarvis, find themselves caught up in a twisted intrigue of ancient legends and a deadly family curse.
Regency England, August 1812.
Sebastian's plans to escape the heat of London for a honeymoon are shattered when the murdered body of Hero's good friend, Gabrielle Tennyson, is discovered drifting in a battered boat at the site of a long-vanished castle known as Camlet Moat. A beautiful young antiquarian, Miss Tennyson had recently provoked an uproar with her controversial identification of the island as the location of Camelot. Missing and presumed also dead are Gabrielle's two young cousins, nine-year-old George and three-year-old Alfred.
Still struggling to define the nature of their new marriage, Sebastian and Hero find themselves occasionally working at cross-purposes as their investigation leads from London's medieval Inns of Court to its seedy back alleys, and from grand country homes to rural enclaves where ancient Celtic beliefs still hold sway. As he probes deeper, Sebastian also discovers dark secrets at the heart of the Tennyson family, and an enigmatic young French lieutenant with a dangerous, mysterious secret of his own.
Racing to unmask a ruthless killer and unravel the puzzle of the missing children, Sebastian and Hero soon find both their lives and their growing love for each other at risk as their investigation leads to Hero's father, who is also Sebastian's long-time nemesis... and to a tall, dark stranger who may hold the key to Sebastian's own parentage.
NAL, hardcover, March 2012, 9780451235770
Signet, mass market paperback, March 2013, 9780451414229
Book 6
"I love this series. It has it all: romance, political intrigue, dark humor, and memorable characters."
—The Historical Novels Review
How do you set about solving a murder no one can reveal has been committed?
Regency London, July 1812.
That's the challenge confronting C.S. Harris's aristocratic soldier-turned-sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr when his friend, surgeon and "anatomist" Paul Gibson, illegally buys the cadaver of a young man from London's infamous body snatchers. A rising star at the Foreign Office, Mr. Alexander Ross was reported to have died of a weak heart. But when Gibson discovers a stiletto wound at the base of Ross's skull, he can turn only to Sebastian for help in catching the killer.
Described by all who knew him as an amiable young man, Ross at first seems an unlikely candidate for murder. But as Sebastian's search takes him from the Queen's drawing rooms in St. James's Palace to the embassies of Russia, the United States, and the Turkish Empire, he plunges into a dangerous shadow land of diplomatic maneuvering and international intrigue, where truth is an elusive commodity and nothing is as it seems.
Meanwhile, Sebastian must confront the turmoil of his personal life. Hero Jarvis, daughter of his powerful nemesis Lord Jarvis, finally agrees to become his wife. But as their wedding approaches, Sebastian can't escape the growing realization that not only Lord Jarvis but Hero herself knows far more about the events surrounding Ross's death than they would have him believe.
Then a second body is found, badly decomposed but bearing the same fatal stiletto wound. And Sebastian must race to unmask a ruthless killer who is now threatening the life of his reluctant bride and their unborn child.
NAL, hardcover, March 2011, 978-0451232236
Signet, paperback, March 2012, 978-0451233950
Book 5
"Harris combines all the qualities of a solid Regency in the tradition of Georgette Heyer by pairing two strong characters trying to ignore their mutual attraction while solving a crime together...Anyone who likes Amanda Quick and/or is reading the reissued Heyer novels will love this series." Starred review
—Library Journal
London, 1812.
When the controversial reform-minded Bishop of London is found bludgeoned to death in an ancient crypt beside the corpse of an unidentified man murdered decades before, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, reluctantly agrees to help with the investigation.
To Sebastian's consternation, the last person to see the Bishop alive was Miss Hero Jarvis, a woman whose already strained relationship with St. Cyr has been complicated by a brief, unexpectedly passionate encounter. As his search for the killer leads him from the back allies of Smithfield to the power corridors of Whitehall, Sebastian must confront the well-guarded secrets of his own family's pastand a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question whoand whathe really is.
New American Library, hardcover, November 2009, 978-0451228024
NAL, trade paperback, August 2010, 978-0451230560
Signet, mass market paperback, August 2011, 978-0451234377
Book 4
"Outstanding...Harris does a nice job of weaving the many plot strands together while exploring the complex character of her protagonist." Starred review
—Publishers Weekly
Troubled but compelling antihero Sebastian St. Cyr returns in a thrilling new mystery as he joins the daughter of his most bitter enemy in a murder investigation that uncovers layers of hypocrisy and depravity in the highest echelons of power in Regency England.
London, 1812.
The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivorand one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian power broker squashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter's unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help. Still struggling to come to terms with the loss of his lover, Kat Boleyn, and the resultant estrangement from his father, Sebastian is at first reluctant to agree. But the callous violence of the murderscombined with the opportunity to provoke his archenemy, Jarvisprompts him to act.
Working in uneasy alliance, Hero and Sebastian focus their efforts on one particular victim of the carnage: Rose Jones, the terrified nineteen-year-old girl with the unmistakable accent of a gentlewoman who died in Hero's arms. As they unravel a dangerous thread of lies and deceptions, Hero and Sebastian follow a trail of clues leading from the seedy brothels and docksides of London's East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family with dark secrets of its own to hide. Risking both their lives and their reputations, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.
A taut, richly imagined novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats as it deepens the portrait of this dashing and charismatic sleuth.
New American Library, hardcover, November 2008, 978-0451225122
Signet, paperback, November 2009, 978-0451226655
Book 3
"Harris captures the Regency era beautifully while providing the reader with a flawlessly constructed mystery. Highly recommended for all mystery collections." Starred review
—Library Journal
London, September 1811.
Death stalks the sons of Regency England's most powerful families. Partially butchered, with strange objects stuffed in their mouths, the bodies are found dumped in public places at dawn. When the grisly remains of the eldest son of Alfred, Lord Stanton, are discovered in Old Palace Yard beside the House of Lords, local magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help.
Ranging from the gritty world of London's docks to the luxurious drawing rooms of Mayfair, Sebastian confronts his most puzzlingand disturbingcase yet. With the help of his trusted allieshis young servant Tom, the Irish doctor Paul Gibson, and his lover Kat BoleynSebastian struggles to decipher a cryptic set of clues that links the scion of a banking family and a lord's heir to the son of a humble Kentish vicar. For as one death follows another, Sebastian comes to believe that the murderer has both a method and a purpose to his ritualized killings, and that the key to it all may lie in the enigmatic stanzas of a haunting poem...and in a secret so dangerous that men are willing to sacrifice their own children to keep the truth from becoming known.
Read an excerpt
Check out the readers guide
Obsidian/New American Library, hardcover, November 2007, 978-0-451-22226-8
Penguin, paperback, October 2008, 978-0-451-22533-7
Book 2
"Like Georgette Heyer, Harris 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." Starred review
—Kirkus
June 1811.
On a summer's evening at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, the beautiful young wife of an aging Marquis is found dead in the arms of the Prince Regent himself. From her back protrudes a jeweled dagger that once belonged to Bonnie Prince Charlie. Around her neck lies an ancient bluestone and silver necklace said to have been worn by the Druid priestesses of Wales. Legend credited the necklace with mysterious powersuntil it was lost at sea with its last owner, the mother of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin.
Still shadowed by rumors of his own dark past, Sebastian is lured into a dangerous investigation of both the Marchioness's death and his own mother's uncertain fate. He soon discovers that the idle, profligate Prince is not as innocent as his court handlers would have the public believe. With the aid of his lover, a celebrated actress with secrets of her own, and his new servant, Tom, Sebastian follows a twisted trail that leads from a seaside pleasure palace to the most depraved London slums, from the murdered woman's elegant townhouse in Mayfair to a medieval tavern run by an ex-slave.
As he edges closer to the truth, Sebastian finds himself thrust into a world of hidden passions and disguised ambition. And when one murder is followed by another, he confronts an insidious conspiracy that imperils those nearest to him even as it threatens to bring down the monarchy.
Obsidian/New American Library, hardcover, November 2006 978-0451219688
Signet, paperback, November 2007 978-0451222558
Book 1
"Appealing characters, authentic historical details, and sound plotting make this an amazing debut historical." Starred review
—Library Journal
1811.
As old King George III sinks deeper into madness and the threat of social unrest and revolution haunts the privileged classes, a beautiful young woman is found raped and savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient parish church not far from Westminster Abbey. An ornate dueling pistol discovered tangled in the blood-soaked folds of Rachel York's cloak and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experiences in the Napoleonic Wars. When a vicious attack during his arrest leaves a constable near death, Sebastian must run for his life.
Now a fugitive, Sebastian calls upon his experience as an agent during the war to embark on a desperate quest to catch a brutal killer and prove his own innocence. Ranging from the glittering ballrooms and sedate salons of Mayfair to the squalid back alleys and fetid churchyards of St. Giles, Sebastian accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including a street urchin named Tom, an opium-eating Irish doctor, and a lovely but mysterious actress who calls herself Kat Boleyn. Years ago, Kat broke Sebastian's heart. Now she may hold the key to his salvationor doom him to destruction.
For as he plunges into a world of intrigue and espionage, Sebastian discovers that Rachel York was more than what she seemed. When the twisted path leads from a French spymaster to a Machiavellian power broker, and from there to the future Prince Regent, Sebastian begins to realize that Rachel's death holds ominous implications not only for Sebastian's own family, but for the future of the British monarchy.
New American Library, hardcover, November 2005, 978-0451216694
Signet, paperback, October 2006, 978-0451219718