Murder on the moat

When Maidens Mourn, C.S. Harris

I really enjoy C.S. Harris' series of Regency mysteries, centered around Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, of which this is the seventh. For me her books work both as mysteries and as historical fiction, which not all authors can pull off, particularly in writing about the Regency. Like Dorothy Dunnett, she has created a hero with unusual abilities, a military and intelligence background, and a tangled family history that he is trying to unravel. And Devlin has married into an equally complicated family situation. He has clashed repeatedly with his father-in-law, the ruthless Lord Jarvis, the Prince Regent's cousin and the power behind his slightly wobbly throne, and Jarvis has tried more than once to eliminate him.

This book opens just four days after Devlin's sudden marriage to Hero Jarvis. Their relationship is, yes, a complex one. Hero is an intelligent young woman, interested in history and the new science of archeology, as well as social causes and women's issues. She has worked with Sebastian on some of his previous cases, over her father's objections. Like Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, they will find their first days of married life overshadowed with murder, but in the course of the case they too will find a balance and a partnership.

The victim is Hero's friend Gabrielle Tennyson. Sharing Hero's interest in history and archaeology, she had been consulting on the excavation of a site called Camlet Moat on an estate, Trent Place, north of London. The estate's owner, Sir Stanley Winthrop, believes that Camlet, a corruption of Camelot, may be the ruins of the real King Arthur's court. Then Gabrielle's body is discovered floating in a boat; she has been stabbed. And the two young cousins, George and Alfred, who were staying with her, have disappeared. (I didn't immediately connect "Alfred" and "Tennyson," but once it clicked I resorted to Google to learn more about the family.) As Sebastian and Hero begin to investigate, they discover more than one motive for murder: rumors of buried treasure on the site, academic disputes about its authenticity, and family secrets. There are even shadowy figures using the Arthurian legend to challenge the House of Hanover and its sybaritic Prince Regent, which draws in Lord Jarvis.

The mystery of Gabrielle's death is an interesting one. The investigation plays out against the deepening relationship between Sebastian and Hero, and it also reveals yet another twist in his family's history. Only the case comes to a neat conclusion (and one firmly grounded in history). While they seem to have found a tenative balance in their marriage, what they have learned about Sebastian's family could destroy their lives. I will be very interested to see what the next book brings.

My only historical quibble is that the Tennysons' cook makes oatmeal raisin cookies for the young boys. I know oatcakes have been around for centuries, as have all kinds of sweet biscuits, but it seems a little early for these. I found a reference to a recipe from 1896, though C.S. Harris, like Georgette Heyer a careful researcher, may have come across something earlier in her sources.

Where Shadows Dance

Where Shadows Dance, C.S. Harris

It's been a long wait for the latest in C.S. Harris' series of Regency mysteries with Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin - especially with the cliff-hanger she left us with in What Remains of Heaven.

I have been reading Georgette Heyer for more than 30 years.  She set the standard for me with Regencies, and it's a pretty high standard.  I'm also pretty picky about mysteries.  I want real people, not cardboard characters moving around a plot, no matter how intricate or marvellous the plot.  I used to read a lot of Agatha Christie, but once I discovered Dorothy L. Sayers, I found Christie's books boring or worse (the same thing happened with Dickens and Trollope).

The St. Cyr books work for me both as mysteries and as Regencies.  He's an interesting character, like Francis Crawford of Lymond with secrets and family issues and hidden fault lines.  And as in all my favorite stories, there is a large cast of equally interesting and human characters, from his father the Earl of Hendon to his implacable enemy Charles, Lord Jarvis.  It includes an aunt, the Dowager Duchess of Claiborne, who could have walked out of a Heyer novel, as could his devoted tiger Tom.

And then there's Hero. Gelis van Borselen mixed with Harriet Vane and Drusilla Morville and Cordelia Naismith.  Oh, I do hope she is going to be happy.

This book, set in 1812, had a healthy dose of international politics and a high body count.  I found the twists and turns of the plot a little difficult to follow, even though the body count reduced the number of suspects each time.  But that's a minor quibble about a great read.

C.S. Harris will be signing next week at MBTB, and I can't wait to hear her talk.  There's another book due in 2012, I hear.  It's a long time to wait.