Why Mermaids Sing (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery, Book Three): C. S. Harris

“It’s September 1811, and someone is slaying the wealthy young sons of some of London’s most prominent 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 the 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 puzzling—and disturbing—case yet.  With the help of his trusted allies—his young servant Tom, the Irish doctor Paul Gibson, and his lover, Kat Boleyn—Sebastian 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 starts 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.

“As she did in What Angels Fear and When Gods Die, C.S. Harris once again employs her dazzling command of history and her rich storytelling to draw us into a dark and glittering world.”

This was a May read that took a long time to finally review and post.  Sorry for the delay!

The twists and turns in Harris’s well-crafted world of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, keep on coming in this fast-paced, tension-filled installment.  She has a knack for creating an undercurrent of suspense that makes you loathe putting down the book.

Picking up shortly after the prior book finishes, Devlin is sucked into yet another mysterious slew of murders – this time, of sons from very prominent families, their bodies left mangled in gruesome public displays.  Someone has a tremendous amount of hate for these young men – or, perhaps, their families, as Devlin suspects – but why?  What could make someone commit such horrific and, seemingly unprovoked, atrocities?  What could their message possibly be?  As he performs his inquiries, Devlin finds himself once more entangled in the life and past of the powerful Lord Jarvis, which seriously deepens the danger.  What could these murders have in common?  More importantly, Devlin knows there will be more…but who and when?

I was particularly pleased with this story’s ability to keep me guessing.  I truly didn’t know who was at the heart of the mystery until Devlin revealed it at the very end.  This is one of the highest compliments I can give a writer, because I pride myself on not being particularly easy to fool.  I enjoyed the twists and turns along with the vibrant characters Devlin encounters as he attempts to follow the murder’s twisted path.  The truth he discovers is far more sinister than he ever could have imagined, and it’s a secret over which more than one man is willing to kill over.  Not only is Devlin’s own life at stake, but that of his lover, Kat Boleyn.  As usual, the undertone of his romance with Kat provides a logical sounding board for his inquiry, as well as a pleasant reprieve from what might otherwise become far too dark a book.  I’ve always been a fan of Harris’s ability to interweave gruesome mystery with the romance between Kat and Devlin – it works surprisingly well.  However, a secret revealed at the end of this book could ruin that forever!

The settings were, as usual, highly descriptive and captivating.  I thoroughly enjoy the seedy, grimy underbelly of London Harris portrays – so different from what I am used to reading.  It suits her stories and her characters perfectly.  She has a way with crafting these vivid settings which aid in creating a complimentary tone for the story to go along with the plot.

This installment fit in perfectly well with the rest of the series thus far.  It has set up the potential for a volatile continuation with the surprise ending and I look forward to seeing what lies in store for Devlin – especially as it concerns his future with Kat.