Who Speaks for the Damned
by C.S. Harris
5 stars
Who Speaks for the Damned is C.S. Harris’ fifteenth entry in the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series. Set in the Regency Era, the series centers around the aforementioned Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. Devlin is a nobleman who was once accused of murder and in the process of proving himself innocent, discovered he has rather a knack for ferreting out the truth. Thus, he now investigates murder in the ranks of the nobility, always seeking justice for the dead.
This time Devlin is investigating the murder of Nicholas Hayes. Hayes is the third son of the Earl of Seaforth, and was tried and convicted of a noblewoman’s murder 20 years ago. Transported to Australia soon after his conviction, he was believed to be dead. What, then, is his corpse doing turning up in Pennington’s Tea Gardens in the heart of London? Why did he risk hanging by returning to England’s shores? Who went to the trouble to murder Hayes, when all they needed to do was turn him in to the Crown to be hanged?
As Devlin investigates, several possibilities emerge as to why Hayes felt it necessary to return. Did he seek to clear his name of a murder he did not commit? Could he have sought revenge on those men he believed instrumental in helping to secure his murder conviction? Perhaps he returned seeking to punish those he believed drove his brother to suicide just days before his sentence was passed. Or was his return due to his wish to secure the future of the child traveling with him, a child believed to be his son and heir but who has now gone missing?
As Devlin unravels the intricacies of Hayes’ past and his present demise, the reader is immersed once again into the world of early 1800s London thanks to Harris’ excellent plotting, strong attention to detail, and character-driven writing. Devlin, while a man of moral rectitude, is as human and as flawed a protagonist as you will find, which endears him to the reader all the more for it. Hero, Devlin’s wife, is a strong, capable woman whose work among the poor of London’s streets attempts to highlight and correct the gaping chasm between the rich and the poor of the times, serving to illustrate them for the modern reader. Jarvis, adviser to kings, Hero’s father, and Devlin’s constant nemesis, doesn’t disappoint in his constancy as a man of questionable morals who does whatever is necessary to ensure that no hint of scandal tarnishes the throne of England or besmirches the nobility. I think of Jarvis as the Dolores Umbridge of the Regency Era—you love to hate him.
This series is one of the best historical mystery series being written today, and this fifteenth entry to the series is a most enjoyable read. Harris’ plotting is fast-paced yet never formulaic. The characters are likable and relatable, and the story-line unfolds with twists and turns aplenty. Readers of this series will not be disappointed, and those new to the series will be delighted with their discovery of such a well-crafted, devour-able novel. I never miss a Sebastian St. Cyr novel, and once you read one, you won’t want to miss one either. They just keep getting better, and Who Speaks for the Damned is no exception. A riveting read.
Read alikes:
A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
The Inheritance by Charles Finch
Written by Casey, a member of our Patron Services department. She loves mysteries, especially Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, and historical fiction. She also loves horror and fantasy novels.
