Napoleon and Prinny, England’s Prince Regent, both lust after a 45-carat blue diamond.
After Daniel Eisler, a gem merchant with a fascination for the occult and a sideline in blackmail, is shot dead in his untidy house, magistrate Bertram Leigh-Jones catches Russell Yates, a homosexual profligate, standing over the deceased and whisks him off to Newgate to await trial. Sebastian St. Cyr, still devoted to his first love, Kat, now in a marriage of convenience with Yates, steps in to prove him innocent. This noble decision not only endangers his own pregnant wife, Hero, but pits him against her father, Lord Jarvis, half the cutthroats skulking around Haymarket, and certain French agents Napoleon sent across the channel in pursuit of a diamond looted from the French crown jewels during the Revolution and thought to have been in Eisler’s possession. Was Eisler killed to retrieve the magnificent blue diamond? Was he slain by someone so in debt to him he had to let Eisler debauch his wife as partial repayment? Or did the Prince Regent himself target Eisler to reclaim the diamond that had been pawned by his loathed wife, Caroline? Jenny, a doxy who was hiding in a priest’s hole during Eisler’s demise, knows whodunit. But can Sebastian locate and save her from assassination and Yates from the gallows before it’s too late?
A lively foray into early-19th-century politics, treacheries and moral indiscretions, though fans of the series (When Maidens Mourn, 2012, etc.) will lament Hero’s relegation to a back seat this time around.
from Kirkus Reviews.
22 comments:
To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hermione, their praises are your wages ;0 With the first flush of excitement ebbing I can say that one of the things I sincerely admire about the Sebastian-Hero-Kat dynamic is how deftly you handle it. I admire Sebastian even more for the way he told Hero his feelings - and she joins him in quoting the Song of Solomon. Nice. On a side note, I also liked the touch about the crown jewels and September 11.
Definitely not a paint by the numbers review.
I've never really paid attention to their reviews, but it looks like a very positive one to me. But what I don't get is they basically give away a bunch of stuff that you need to "discover" as you go on (the blackmail thing, the doxie's name, etc). Do all their reviews give out many of the details? Oh, and have you gotten a date yet when the audible version will be released? Sabena
Barbara, I know many readers were frustrated that the relationship between Hero and Sebastian didn't move faster, so I'm glad to hear you appreciated that that would not have reflected well on Sebastian.
Charles, yes, their reviews are always original.
Sabena, I've seen far worse; there was one PW review--can't remember now for which book--that horrified me by giving away everything.
I asked my editor about the audible version, and the word is April. Not sure why the delay--no one there has seen the cover yet, either, although we sometimes see it only a week or two in advance.
A great summary of the plot lines, without giving any important details away. I do resent Russell being written off as simply a "homosexual profligate," as we could tell he was so much more (though we barely knew ye...). Also, the reviewers should not speak for the fans, who clearly do not lament Hero's relegation, since it is clearly non existent.
I commented in the other thread (mainly cause I wanted to discuss spoilers), but I didn't find Hero relegated at all - I loved her scenes with the children she was interviewing and I loved the one single scene with her father.
Paz, that line about Yates shook me, too. And it seemed to me that Hero could hardly have had a more prominent role unless the series became hers, which is not my vision!
Courtney, yes, I do wonder what more the reviewer would have wanted to see.
Hip, hip, hurrah!!!! I was just at audible poking around and guess what was there. YES!!! It has shown up - no cover yet though. I will buy it tonight when I'm home. That means my second "read" thru will be hearing it. I'm so excited!!!! Sabena
Thanks for the news Sabena. I'm off to my 3rd read of WDB... I hope Ms. Porter is the narrator yet again. I love her narrations!
Downloading now! Thanks Sabena!
Sabena, that is very odd! Wonder why they haven't done a cover yet despite having the book available.
LinhiePooh, yes, it's the same reader.
Jan, do you know I wasn't aware that one could download them? Duh....
This was a strange review. It was positive, but somewhat off base in my opinion. I remember reading it and being disgusted with the description of Russell Yates- to reduce a great character to such a moniker was ridiculous . And after I read the book, I scratched my head about the Hero comment. Does Harriet Klausner write for Kirkus? I have never been convinced that she actually reads the books she reviews, but oh well.
Read it a second time and still loving it
Candy, take a look at the WDB product page on Amazon in the list of formats available. They have a partnership with Audible.com. All my audio versions of your books came from there. Once on the Mac, they synch to my ipad and I can listen in the car on my usb connector. I have been wallowing in Heyer's Uncle Sylvester recently but Salford and Phoebe will now be bumped for Sebastian and Hero. :)
Now don't get me wrong, I think Davina is wonderful, but every time I listen to her, it takes a lot of getting used to: you described Sebastian as having a melodic (irc, baritone) voice and Kat says Hero has a husky one. So her gravel-voiced Devlin and prim Hero are at odds with what is in my head. She does the children brilliantly, doesn't she? Drummer is precious! And I can hardly wait to hear Sebastian's Glaswegian old mouse.
I agree with Essex that this is an odd review. The reviewer has a peculiar slant. Yates is "profligate," Sebastian is "devoted" to Kat, and Hero is "relegated." All slightly off, leaving me - an ardent fan - a little uneasy until the book itself reassured me. Thankfully YOU wrote the book, not this reviewer.
Davina's interpretTion of the Song of Solomon scene was perfect.
Another favorite small scene is when Hero lusts for Sebastian when she sees his languid walk. sigh
Essex, I frequently find reviews very strange--I'm constantly surprised by the things they decide to pull out, or the interpretations they make.
Jan, yes, I just saw it; I don't know why it didn't occur to me before. And I can't listen to the audio versions; Hero and Sebastian don't sound the way I think of them at all. It's very disconcerting. I didn't listen far enough to hear the children.
Elaine, yes, agree on all three adjectives! But I know when writing synopses that I'm frequently aware of sacrificing accuracy for brevity and clarity, so that may be one of the things at work here.
'Mayhap' the Kirkus reviewer had not read ALL the St. Cyr books for a more accurate perspective of all the characters and dynamics. The curt description of Yates is undeserved. Even Sebastian mentioned that "he was an interesting man and would have liked to have known him better."
The reviewer missed the mark totally in stating that Sebastian is "still devoted to Kat." Did he not read the entire chapters, or just skim over them? Candace, your deft handling of Kat, Sebastian, and Hero, from the words of wisdom from Kat regarding secrets, honesty and trust between a man and a woman, that left Sebastian with that 'faint whisper of a doubt'. The next chapter was so poignant and heart-to-heart with Sebastian revealing the truth behind his background, so that there would be no more secrets between himself and Hero. The Song of Solomon was perfect to express their feelings for each other......sigh. Hero now understands that Kat will never be a (real) threat between her and Sebastian. (BTW, how many times has that chapter been highlighted and reread by your readers?)
If Hero was 'relegated to the background' by continuing her work in various projects for justice, helping Sebastian in the murder investigation to find the truth, and being a part of a defining moment in Sebastian's life and the St. Cyr series, I think not!
Was there a hint that Hero may have a hand in finding Sebastian's mother, in a future book?
Hi Candy,
I just finished WDB, and loved it. I will always be a fan of Kat, and will always want her and Sebastian to be together (I know it won't happen, but still...) Anyways, I was happy that Kat had more of the book dedicated to her than previously. Will she find another love? I had thought I read in some previous post that WDB was to be a romance, and Kat would get her happy ending, but is that for a future book? Just wanted to know. Thanks so much!
Alexa
One other thought: is there any hero in a novel that is similar to Sebastian? I enjoy these books so much and would like to know if any other series comes close :)
Thanks!
Logalinor, thanks for all that! I really do appreciate it. As for hints....
Alexa, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it. I do plan to give Kat her own happily-ever-after, but it will be a while. She was only just widowed, after all, and although it was a marriage of convenience, I see her as feeling that she owes Yates an observance of society's customs. The romance referred to may have been the one coming up in WHY KINGS CONFESS, but that is Gibson's tale; Kat will take a backseat for a while.
As for other characters like Sebastian in a mystery series, I can't think of any! It's one of the reasons I wrote this series--I couldn't understand why the mysteries I read all either had female kickass heroines or male characters that might be interesting but were definitely not very sexy.
Hi Candy
Just wanted to say great read loved the book only one problem though I finished it and the time went way to quick under 6 hours. Now just have to wait for the next one SIGH. Of course I do go through and read the whole series todate at least once a year
Alexa might like to check out the Capt Lacey Regency Mysteries by Ashley Gardner
cheers
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