And Another Great Review, This One from Library Journal

Release date is just two weeks away! I'm currently nursing an awful cold and trying to summon the energy to clean up the mess left by some "minor" renovations that were supposed to take 1 1/2 days last week and instead $$$$$stretched to yesterday. But anyway, here is a great review from Library Journal:

WHEN FALCONS FALL: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery by C. S. Harris
"When Emily Chance's body is discovered near the Shropshire village of Ayleswick-on-Teme in 1813, the local squire calls on Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, to investigate the suspicious death. Sebastian soon discovers that the widow was not what she pretended to be and several people had motives for her murder. [I'm going to snip a few lines here about aristocrats and smugglers and Lucien Bonaparte because I don't want to give away a key plot point.] It's up to Sebastian and Hero, his intrepid wife, to figure out which secret killed Emily before it destroys them, too. VERDICT Harris's 11th series installment (after Who Buries the Dead) is both an engrossing tangled mystery and astonishing tale about a tragic search for identity. An excellent choice for St. Cyr fans and readers of historical mysteries. ---Marlene Harris, Reading Reality, LLC, Duluth, GA"

Historical Novel Society Reviews FALCONS

Another wonderful review, this one from the Historical Novel Society:

When Falcons Fall: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery

St. Cyr, better known to his readers as Devlin, arrives with his family in a small Shropshire village in 1813, ostensibly on a quest to discover the truth about his own identity and to pay homage to a slain friend. What he finds on his journey is more than he bargained for.

Of course, Devlin quickly becomes involved in a murder investigation. Despite the town’s efforts to classify the death of a young widow, found dead on the banks of the river, as a suicide, the pieces don’t fit. Why is Emma Chance in Ayleswick? Who is she sketching and why? As Devlin digs deeper, he learns she is not the first young woman to have died under mysterious circumstances.

The inhabitants of Ayleswick are not what they seem, either. The town takes on a personality of its own – a history of deadly fire, black market doings, and just plain bad folks with nasty secrets. To add to this messy stew is newly ensconced Lucien Bonaparte, estranged brother of Napoleon, who appears to have more up his sleeve than first appears.

What a delight!  Not just a fun romp, this is well-written and plotted, and, again, as Devlin attempts to sort out truth from artifice, a showpiece for Harris to create wonderfully fleshed out and complex characters.  One of the best Devlin entries, and highly recommended!

Booklist Gives WHEN FALCONS FALL a Wonderful Starred Review!

The first review is in, and it's a fantastic starred review from Booklist:

Harris' talent for character development, polished prose, and accurate, Regency-era details makes this eleventh--or any of the previous 10--an easy starting point for newcomers to the Sebastian St. Cyr series. The first line is a fabulously evocative hook: "It was the fly that got to him." And idiomatic turns of phrase, like "cast up his accounts," transport readers into the period. In this puzzler, St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, visits Ayleswick-on-Teme at a friend's deathbed request but also to probe a personal matter concerning his ancestry--the source of his mysterious yellow eyes, acute vision, and ability to hear what no one else can. Of course, murder complicates matters: a young artist visiting the village is brutally slain, followed by another inexplicable killing. The presence of Sebastian's unconventional wife, Hero, and their jolly baby gives an additional twist to the already tangled plot. Seemingly unconnected people as disparate as Napoleon Bonaparte's brother, a so-called simpleminded whittler, and a woman who could be St. Cyr's twin, plus delightfully labyrinthine clues, muster into order under Harris' masterful command. Psychologically atmospheric like Imogen Robertson's Westerman and Crowther mysteries, with the skewering social wit of Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, this is historical mystery at its best.--Jen Baker

WHEN FALCONS FALL Cover Reveal!

Yes, I'm home from London, jetlagged, footsore, and worried by some serious reorganization going on over at Penguins Random House. BUT..... Here's the cover for the new book! Coming March 2016:

So what do you think?

Here's the cover copy (which I may have posted before, but I'm too jetlagged to remember):

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 the “best historical thriller writer in the business.” [Lisa Gardner]

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.

Almost immediately, Sebastian realizes that Emma Chance did not, in truth, take her own life. Less easy to discern 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 are the machinations of Lucien Bonaparte, the estranged brother of the megalomaniac French Emperor Napoleon. Held captive under the British government’s watchful eye, the younger Bonaparte is restless, ambitious, and treacherous.

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.  And as he faces his most diabolical opponent ever, he is forced to consider what malevolence he’s willing to embrace in order to destroy a killer.

Wondering What the Next Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Is About?

My editor and I have spent the better part of the last two days tweaking the cover copy for WHEN FALCONS FALL, sending versions back and forth, agonizing over every little word. For those not familiar with the term, the "cover copy" is the blurb on the cover that tells readers what a book is about. So without further ado, here is the copy for WHEN FALCONS FALL (in stores March 2016).

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 breathtaking new mystery from the “best historical thriller writer in the business.” 

Ayleswick-on-Teme, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has come to this seemingly peaceful Shropshire village on the Welsh borderlands to honor a slain friend and on a quest to learn more about his own unknown ancestry. But when the body of a lovely young 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.

Almost immediately, Sebastian realizes that Emma Chance did not, in truth, take her own life. Less easy to discern is exactly how she died, and why. For as Sebastian and Hero soon discover, Emma was hiding much about her real identity, and her purported sketching excursion to Ayleswick concealed a far more grave intention. Also troubling are the machinations of Lucien Bonaparte, the handsome, estranged brother of the megalomaniac French Emperor Napoleon. Held captive in the neighborhood under the British government’s watchful eye, the younger Bonaparte is restless, ambitious, and possibly involved in sinister intrigues.

Sebastian’s investigation takes on new urgency when he discovers that Emma Chance was not the first, or even the second, beautiful young woman in the village to die under suspicious circumstances. Home to an ancient, hauntingly ruined monastery, Ayleswick reveals itself to be a dark and dangerous place of deadly secrets that have festered among the villagers for decades—and a violent past that may tell Sebastian more than he wants to know about his own unsettling origins.  And as he faces his most diabolical opponent ever, he is forced to consider what malevolence he’s willing to embrace in order to destroy a killer.