Who Buries the Dead

Written by C. S. Harris

Narrated by Davina Porter

The grisly murder of a West Indies slave owner and the reappearance of a dangerous enemy from Sebastian St. Cyr's past combine to put C. S. Harris's "troubled but compelling antihero" (Booklist) to the ultimate test in this taut, thrilling mystery. London, 1813. 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. Working in concert with his fiercely independent wife, Hero, Sebastian finds his inquiries taking him from the wretched back alleys of Fish Street Hill to the glittering ballrooms of Mayfair as he amasses a list of suspects who range from an eccentric Chelsea curiosity collector to the brother of an unassuming but brilliantly observant spinster named Jane Austen. But as one brutal murder follows another, it is the connection between the victims and ruthless former army officer Sinclair, Lord Oliphant, that dramatically raises the stakes. Once, Oliphant nearly destroyed Sebastian in a horrific wartime act of carnage and betrayal. Now the vindictive former colonel might well pose a threat not only to Sebastian but to everything-and everyone-Sebastian holds most dear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490649375

C. S. Harris

C. S. Harris is the national bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries. Under the pen name C. S. Graham, she co-authored a thriller series with former intelligence officer Steven Harris and, as Candice Proctor, wrote seven award-winning historical romances. A respected scholar with a PhD in nineteenth-century Europe, she is also the author of a nonfiction historical study of the French Revolution. She lives with her husband in New Orleans.

Reviews for Who Buries the Dead

[Jane Engelhardt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mystery was good and hard to figure out. Use of Austen I thought would be irritating but it wasn’t. Gloom and doom overlay is typical of these novels so that’s the way it is. A great read like the 10 before it!

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The action and adventure weren't as high in this one as many of the others, but I appreciated the historical details and the research that went into it.

[tsmom1219 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoy this series, particularly the social commentary. Sorry that she killed off Jamie Knox, although it could lead to some interesting things down the road.

[vesper1931 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin is drawn in to investigate when Stanley Preston, a wealthy, social climber and plantation owner, and collector, is murdered at Bloody Bridge in London. Nearby lies a lead coffin strap with the inscription 'King Charles, 1648'. Due to Preston's nature there seems to be a surfeit of suspects.
An enjoyable historical mystery

[scot2-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful , well written, historical murder mystery. Enjoyable characters and Regency atmosphere.

[sandyamcpherson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sebastian St. Cyr mystery #8 A revenge-laden plot to do away with Sebastian is intertwined with his convoluted investigation of Stanley Preston's murder. While Sebastian's difficulties in determining Preston's final movements lead him into the wretched back alleys and byways of impoverished London, his history of betrayal during the war in Portugal adds to his personal danger.The twinned intrigues were rather discordant in that the two scenarios could have perhaps been better told as stand-alone plots in separate books. The elaborate interwoven situation, with attempted assassinations and searches for witnesses to Preston’s murder, derailed a great deal of the enjoyment with these storylines. Conflicting motivations with disreputable characters made for an inconsistent narrative which took me out of the mystery a little too often.Historically, factual details added an interesting depth to bringing the scene alive with captivating events. Hero’s research on the social condition of the impoverished costermongers was a clever device to weave into the mystery since it placed her in a useful setting to help Sebastian, but never felt contrived. My major niggle with this ongoing series was my disappointment in (this really is a big spoiler) the author “killing off” Jamie Knox. After considerable writerly development, I had a great liking for that character. Now, so much fascinating potential for participating in future tales is lost.

[lkernagh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hum... not a favorite installment, for a number of reasons. I struggled to stay connected with the story. Yes, Harris continues to present a very vivid depiction of England of the time period. Interesting focus on burial plot that contained the remains of not only King Henry the VIII and Jane Seymour, but also Charles I. The Sub-themes of chattel slavery and the underground market for relics are new themes for Harris to explore. While she does a good job of tying these sub-themes to the mystery at hand, I have to say that including Jane Austin as a character - and the various references to her novels - was an unnecessary and frivolous inclusion to the story. It added nothing, although it may be exciting for Jane Austin fans. The writing still continues to be solid, as is the character development, but I feel that this story was rushed. The publication schedule indicates that she was churning out a book a year (except for one instance where there was a two year gap between books), so maybe the author started to develop writer's fatigue. For example, I found Sebastian to be just a little too fixated on his earlier military experience with one of the suspects for any clear reasoning. Clouded judgement can be tricky, and annoying when it is harped on time and time again. While still an decent mystery, this one just did not entice me like earlier installments in the series have. Fingers crossed this is an anomaly and that the next book is more captivating.

[twinkley_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This took me a while to get into. It felt kind of repetitive with the constant going back and forth interviewing different suspects and not much going on for the first half of the book. The second part of the book improved because now the interviews were giving some results and the background of the suspects were getting more flushed out. I liked it but not one of the better ones in the series.

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Who Buries the Dead
4 Stars

When the decapitated corpse of a West Indies slave owner is discovered on an isolated bridge next to a relic from Charles I's coffin, Sebastian St. Cyr and his wife Hero are drawn into a macabre investigation with a host of suspects. These include a malicious curiosity dealer, an injured officer in His Majesty's army as well as Jane Austen's banker brother, and a vindictive foe from Sebastian's past.

An entertaining addition to the series and the inclusion of Jane Austen as a minor secondary character is an added bonus as the intertextual clues from her works have an interesting effect on the reader's perceptions of characters and motivations.

Although Sebastian's investigation is a garden-variety murder and the suspect pool is rather limited, there are still some gripping moments that keep one turning the pages. The identity of the villain is not easy to discern although there are sufficient clues to figure it all out.

As with all of Harris's books, the historical detail is fascinating and the stories behind the various relics and curiosities mentioned throughout the storyline are captivating.

In terms of Sebastian's personal life, he and Hero are growing ever closer and their marriage is becoming a true partnership in every sense. One inevitable effect of this, however, is an understanding of the perils of their work and the realization that they have so much more to lose now.

All in all, a well-crafted story with characters that become more and more engaging with every installment. Unfortunately, the next book is the most recent and it will be long wait until April 2017 for the follow-up.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Note: There are necessarily spoilers for previous books in this series.Background:This is the tenth book in the historical crime fiction series set in Regency England, this one in March of 1813, and featuring Sebastian St. Cyr, the twenty-nine year old Viscount Devlin. In the first book, he was suspected of a murder he did not commit, and had to become something of a Sherlock Holmes to find the real murderer to save his own skin.In subsequent books, he was consulted on murders that involved the nobility, because he had an entrée into the upper level of society that would have been denied to the regular police. He agrees because the thought of anybody stealing away someone else’s a life is an abomination to him, especially after the traumatic instances of unjust murder he witnessed in the army, and for which he still feels guilt, even though he could not have prevented any of it. Devlin is aided by the counsel of his friend, the surgeon Paul Gibson, who serves as a Watson to St. Cyr’s Holmes, as well as by Sir Henry Lovejoy, now a "Bow Street Runner" (detective) who has become a friend of Devlin’s. Devlin also has his young horse handler Tom, a former street urchin, to do reconnaissance work for him.You may also wish to consult my post on "An Introduction to the Regency Era."As this book begins, almost two months have elapsed since the previous book. Devlin and Hero’s new young son, Simon St. Cyr, is seven weeks old, giving one more reason for Devlin to worry about the safety of his loved ones, especially since he becomes involved in another murder.In this case, Stanley Preston, the irascible cousin of the Home Secretary, has been found not only murdered, but with his severed head up on a pike on the small bridge where his body was found. Devlin’s friend Sir Henry Lovejoy, one of the Bow Street magistrates, has called on Devlin for his help.Ironically, that the same year, the burial vault of King Charles I had been discovered. The king was beheaded almost 200 years before. The vault also contained the coffins of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and was located quite near to the location where Preston met his grisly death. It happened that Preston was a collector of “curiosities” including severed heads. Was there a correspondence?Complicating matters was the fact that any number of people had recently quarreled with Preston, including Henry Austen, a banker who was the real life brother of Jane Austen, both of whom also play a part in the story. [The author consulted Jane Austen’s letters and biographies for her portrayal of the Austen family, and also adds humorous references in her book to some of Austen’s characters. (For example, Hero names their cat Mr. Darcy.) At this time, Jane Austen’s books were the talk of the “ton” although the books had been published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility first appeared in 1811 under the pseudonym "A Lady”, and Pride and Prejudice was published early in 1812. Austen’s authorship of the books did not remain a secret for long, and in this book, Devlin is one of those who discovers it early on, in the course of his investigation.]Devlin keeps getting shot at however, and he isn’t sure how it is related to the death of Preston, and the others who turn up dead.Hero has been putting herself in the way of danger as well; she is working on a series of articles about London’s working poor, a project which takes her into less than salubrious areas. Moreover, those who threaten Devlin seem to be targeting his wife and child as well. Naturally Hero’s ruthless father-in-law, the powerful Lord Jarvis, promises to kill Devlin if any harm should befall Hero or Simon.Other continuing plot threads include the worsening opium addiction of Devlin’s friend, the surgeon Paul Gibson, and Devlin’s deepening feelings for Hero:“He loved her with a tenderness and a passion that humbled, awed, and frightened him; he was closer to her than he had ever been to anyone.”Devlin does end up losing someone with whom he feels an inexorable bond, and this tragedy will inevitably affect what he does in the next book.Evaluation: I’ve become quite invested in these characters by this tenth book, and can’t wait to see what happens to them next. I also love the historical aspects of the books; I learn more about the Regency Era with each one.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have enjoyed the Sebastian St Cyr series, but this latest novel does not have the punch as the prior novels, and the details of the story become hazy. The story centers on trophies of famous or infamous individuals. The story brings in gruesome details of the invasion of the burial and coffin of many English monarchs. Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, Charles I, Henri IV, and Edward IV all rank as monarchs whose final resting is not peaceful. The story introduces reader to Jane Austen and her brother Henry Austen, as women are discussing Jane Austen's latest books. Slavery enters the picture as a necessary evil that has been abolished in England, but still remains in England's colonies. Many of the major characters play minor roles in this tale. Harris wanders too far from the story line to stand on the soapbox and preach reform.

[virginia51-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was another fantastic addition to the Sebastian St.Cyr novels. I did not want to stop reading this book. I love him and Hero being together and having a child. This story just keeps getting better with each book. Each time you turn around brings another twist to the mystery.

[fbswss · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the characters and I especially love the history Harris throws in so you are actually learning while you're reading. I did not enjoy Jane Austen being tossed into the story - it seemed an artifice. But it was pretty subtle.That's an artifice I'm pretty tired of truthfully....like those Oscar Wilde novels and Jane Austen mysteries. Make up your own characters and stories.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Any author who manages to use the real Jane Austen as a character in her book has my undying loyalty! But seriously, this latest murder that Sebastian St. Cyr has to solve highlights all that he has gained and all that he has to lose.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent mystery in an excellent series! I really enjoyed this installment of the series, although I was disappointed by a character's death(!). Overall, C.S. Harris certainly knows how to spin a good tale, with new twists and revelations coming right up to the end.