Publishers Weekly
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The cold, rainy London summer of 1816 provides an atmospheric backdrop for Harris’s enjoyable latest mystery featuring aristocratic sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr (after What Cannot Be Said). At the outset, a young man named Jamie summons St. Cyr to a ruined chapel on Saville Street, where the murdered Lord Preston Farnsworth hangs upside down in the position of the Le Pendu tarot card. In life, Farnsworth was a mercurial character, described by some as profoundly moral and by others as embittered and licentious. He also happens to be the husband of Lady Tess, who left him seven years ago to live with St. Cyr’s friend, Hugh. When Hugh is accused of killing Farnsworth, an initially ambivalent St. Cyr decides to look into the case. As usual, his sleuthing takes him from the halls of power to London’s most dangerous alleys. The social commentary is a bit heavy-handed, with St. Cyr’s wife delivering impassioned critiques of public attitudes toward the poor, but the series’ trademarks—brisk pacing; well-wrought descriptions of Regency London; and a large, diverse cast—carry the day. Harris’s fans will be satisfied. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. (Apr.)

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A sleuth in Regency London probes the death of a controversial aristocrat. Amateur detective Sebastian Alistair St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is visited in 1816 by Irish urchin Jamie Gallagher with the news that a corpse is hanging upside down in the ruins of a rundown chapel off Swallow Street. The victim is crusading Lord Preston Farnsworth. What was a moralistic nobleman doing in such an unsavory location? Sebastian’s thoughts turn immediately to Major Hugh Chandler, the close friend who once saved his life and was a sworn enemy of the righteous Preston. Determined to exonerate his friend, Sebastian begins investigating. The road to a solution in Harris’ 20th Sebastian St. Cyr mystery is long and winding, proceeding with stately elegance. Nearly every short chapter introduces a new setting and a colorful new character, beginning with a head-spinning number of entangled lords and ladies. The enormous cast of Dickensian breadth ranges from leathery young soldier Billy Callaghan to alluring French cartomancer Madame Blanchette to gritty Henry Otis McGregor III, known as Half-Hanged Harry. The discovery that Harry has been hanged himself shortly after he confronts Sebastian indicates the novel’s deft irony even as it pumps urgency into the plot. The historical details that are a hallmark of the series include speculations about France’s uncertain future following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, a devastating volcanic eruption in Indonesia, and the resulting cold, wet aftermath in England, the “year without a summer.” While the whodunit’s solution is solid, the journey to it, full of entertaining Easter eggs, is even more satisfying. A consistently brisk and engaging period mystery. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin's twentieth outing (after What Cannot Be Said, 2024) begins, as most do, with the discovery of a brutal murder. This time it's Lord Preston Farnsworth, hung upside down in an abandoned chapel in the pose of the tarot card, The Hanged Man. During the unusually cold and rainy August of 1816, Devlin is called in to help Bow Street with the investigation because of his ability to move among the social circles that must be investigated, and he finds that Farnsworth was a member of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, whose obsession with crime and immorality led to the cruel mistreatment of London's poor. The authorities are pointing to Devlin's friend Major Hugh Chandler, who ran off with Farnsworth's wife years ago, but when another body is discovered posed like another tarot card, that seems unlikely. Harris once again presents a holistic view of Regency England as the plight of the poor, the fallout from the war with France, and political turmoil at home all come into play in this terrific historical mystery.