OK, I wanted to love this one, but strangely all the "Lady of Shalott," Arthurian legends, and fictional Tennyson's felt forced.
Not bad, but not my favorite in the series.
Library copy.
Historical Mystery. 2012. 356 pages.
Brief Description: Regency England, September 1812: After a long night spent dealing with the tragic death of a former military comrade, a heart-sick Sebastian learns of a new calamity: Russell Yates, the dashing, one-time privateer who married Kat a year ago, has been found standing over the corpse of Benjamin Eisler, a wealthy gem dealer. Yates insists he is innocent, but he will surely hang unless Sebastian can unmask the real killer.
A truly creepy, villainous blackmailer who believes in the supernatural, some Napoleonic espionage, the Hope diamond, and the growth of the relationship between Sebastian and Hero all factor into this installment.
The inclusion of actual details or events from the time period is one of the pleasures historical novels provide. The Napoleonic Wars have played a role in this series from the beginning and continue to do so in each novel. What Darkness Brings, set in 1812, also includes a lot of information about the Hope Diamond--a bit of its history as part of Le Bleu de France, its theft and disappearance during the French Revolution, and a mention of its re-appearance in the possession of the Hope banking family in 1812. Of course, the plot line alters things a bit, but Harris explains the facts in the Author's Note at the end. After I Googled them myself. Next time, I go to the Author's Notes first.
Library copy.
Historical Mystery. 2013. 349 pages.
Who Buries the Dead (#10)Brief description: The vicious decapitation of Stanley Preston, a wealthy, socially ambitious plantation owner, at Bloody Bridge draws Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, into a macabre and increasingly perilous investigation. The discovery near the body of an aged lead coffin strap bearing the inscription King Charles, 1648 suggests a link between this killing and the beheading of the deposed seventeenth-century Stuart monarch. Equally troubling, the victim’s kinship to the current Home Secretary draws the notice of Sebastian’s powerful father-in-law, Lord Jarvis, who will exploit any means to pursue his own clandestine ends.
Ha! I just read some reviews on Goodreads, and I have to agree with some of the reviewers that Hero is, in many ways, the more interesting character--and she doesn't get enough time. The inclusion of Jane Austen as a minor character felt as forced as the literary references in When Maidens Mourn -- coulda worked, but didn't. Sometimes I truly love the inclusion of real people as secondary characters in a novel, and if it had just been the amusing scene in which Sebastian's aunt is totally engrossed in reading Pride and Prejudice by an anonymous author, I'd have love the allusion. A Jane character, however, felt awkward.
Once again, Harris includes some fascinating glimpses of historical oddities: the discovery in 1813 of a burial vault that housed the coffins of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and surprisingly, that of Charles I; the discovery of Edward IV's remains in 1789 and the snatching of relics from the body (ugh); and other strange occurrences with the heads of Oliver Cromwell and Henri IV. A heady brew of stolen heads!
Library copy.
Historical Mystery. 2015. 352 pages.
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A while back Rita wrote an interesting post about book binges: Should You Binge on a Beloved Author. I couldn't help but think of it when I finished the third book. Maybe I should not have read these 3 back to back, especially since I'd just finished the newest one in the series--When Falcons Fall.
It isn't that I wasn't entertained, because I was. Harris pulls me in each time, but I noticed too much. Certain phrases that occurred with frequency, certain patterns of plot development, the too familiar manner of introducing characters from previous novels. Things you might not notice if there is at least a year between books (Harris puts out a new one every year), but when you read the books back to back, those details stand out.
I really liked When Falcons Fall (#10), and I look forward to #11, but will appreciate it more for the wait.
The ideas behind this series sounds good. I will have to see if I can get book 1 at some point to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteIn spite of having noticed a few things by reading several books in a row, I think the books get better from the first to the last. :)
DeleteI've read the first one, and the second is in my stack. I love the time frame!
ReplyDeleteThe Regency period is full of fascinating characters and world-shaking events from the aftermath of the French Revolution to the Napoleonic Wars and there effect on England. Harris pulls out so many strange, forgotten events from those years and weaves her mysteries around them. :)
DeleteI've read the first one, and the second is in my stack. I love the time frame!
ReplyDeleteI agree that some authors I've read can be sampled one book after another, but some cannot. I've had a few that I began noticing certain go-to phrases or other similarities - little annoyances that became bigger ones. However, I've also had a few that I've read 10 books in a row and loved them. You just never know.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I was going to include Anne Bishop's The Others series in the same post as an example of books read back-to-back that didn't have the same niggling problems. The St. Cyr books shouldn't be read too close together, but that problem doesn't arise with Bishop's The Others series!
DeleteYes, I totally agree some books could be read back-to-back while some simply cannot. It's the phrasing which I find the most common problem, followed by some conversational words. That said, these books look interesting given the time frame.
ReplyDeleteExactly. And the books do have interesting characters and plots along with a glimpse of historical events. :)
DeleteThanks for the mention. I just put book #1 of this series on my GR wishlist to check my library for when I can get back there. I do hear you about reading beloved authors back to back. It works sometimes, as Kay says, but you can also keep picking out certain phrases or minor plot inclusions that keep cropping up in each installment that keeps it from seeming fresh.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I just adore Elly Griffiths' series and I have the next one ready to go, but since I've read 3 this year already, I'm waiting until later this month to enjoy it.
:) I really love a series that I can read one after another without getting nitpicky, but not all the series I enjoy can do that effectively. I need to read the Elly Griffiths series; love that the books all involve archaeology.
DeleteI'm still waiting for my reserved copy of When Falcons Fall to arrive ... hopefully it will come soon. And I agree, Hero is a great character and definitely Devlin's equal.
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit it, but I also have a love/hate situation with Jarvis. He makes the books much more interesting, even if I find him despicable. Hero has just enough of her father to keep her feisty, but she also has a strong sense of empathy.
DeleteThis sounds like an interesting series. That's a good point about book binges. Sometimes it exaggerates the flaws in an author's writing.
ReplyDeleteI love catching up on a series; I just wish I'd given myself a little time between books for this series. :)
DeleteI rarely read series books back-to-back but I think that's probably a good observation. I'm sure that would happen with any book. You'd probably pick on things that you may not have if you had some space in between. Then again, I do follow a lot of series and when I've spent too long in between books I feel a bit lost sometimes going back to the series. It's just hard to keep up right? For example this is one series I haven't kept up with but I may change that soon. You've reminded me that I enjoy this one!
ReplyDeleteI've read many series that way. Some authors vary the wording and manner of expression more than others and some series require more backstory than others. :)
DeleteI know what you mean about feeling a bit lost sometimes if it has been too long between books.
This is a series I want to give a try. I think my last big binge of a series was just over a year ago. I was so focused on reading the entire series in one go. It was probably too much. On the plus side, the author's re-introduction of the characters and summation to get readers caught up at the beginning of each book varied enough that it wasn't annoying. I know with some series, that can be a problem.
ReplyDeleteI learned with Anne Perry's Charlotte and Inspector Pitt series that I have my limits on just how much binge reading I can do. When first beginning a series, I find reading two or three books in a row is ideal if I want to cement the characters in my memory so I'll be ready to pick up the next book a year or so later. I so rarely actually do that though.