Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Still Alive, Barely

I brought a nasty case of flu home with me from Baltimore that I still haven't shaken. But I wanted to share this STARRED Publishers Weekly review of Where Serpents Sleep, which hits the stores the first Tuesday in November. I could have done without the "predictable" line (excuse me?!) but since they gave it a star, I can't really complain!

"Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery C.S. Harris. NAL/Obsidian. The savage murder of eight prostitutes at a London house of refuge provides Sebastian St. Cyr with yet another challenging puzzle in Harris's outstanding fourth mystery to feature the Regency-era gentleman sleuth. St. Cyr, who's been despondent ever since a stunning personal revelation toward the end of 2007's Why Mermaids Sing, is roused from his funk by Hero Jarvis, the fearless and independent daughter of his mortal enemy. Jarvis, who was doing research at the house of refuge at the time of the murders and barely survived the massacre herself, asks for St. Cyr's help in tracking down those responsible. The amateur detective finds no shortage of suspects, ranging from the pimp of some of the dead girls to Bow Street magistrate Sir William Hadley, who had patronized them. While the developing attraction between St. Cyr and Jarvis is a little too predictable, Harris does a nice job of weaving the many plot strands together while exploring the complex character of her protagonist. (Nov.)"

8 comments:

Steve Malley said...

I'm looking forward to this one my own self.

Do you know if y'all are doing an Australasian edition right away, or do I need to wait for my Christmas shipment from Amazon?

Charles Gramlich said...

Very nice. I'm definitely going to try to make your signing.

cs harris said...

Steve, the Aussie edition for this one isn't even in the pipes yet, so if you're anxious, yeah, it'll have to be Amazon.

Charles, hope to see you there! I THINK I'll have my voice back by Saturday.

Shauna Roberts said...

I'm heading over to Amazon right now to order it. I'm glad Hero is getting a bigger role this time.

Barbara Martin said...

I've put this on my Christmas list already. Great review.

Anonymous said...

"Predictable" maybe, but I think the partnership, whatever it may eventually evolve into, between Sebastian and Hero is great. Hero reminds me of myself (my personality would NOT have fit well with the expectations for women in Regency England either). I can't wait to see where their relationship goes. Thanks for what is already, in my opinion, a great series.

cs harris said...

Shauna and Barbara, thanks! I hope you enjoy it.

Ginna, thanks ever so much.

Chen said...

I just finished Where Serpents Sleep and I loved it! The development between Devlin and Hero is a nice surprise. I can't wait for the next one.

Can you divulge the timeline for the next St Cyr mystery to hit the bookstores?