It’s really hard to recall a book’s plot after you’ve read several others since, so forgive me for the brevity here. C.S. Harris’ When Gods Die is the second in the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series. In the previous installment our hero Sebastian was accused of murdering a former lover in a most gruesome way. The second outing for Sebastian also involves the brutal murder of woman, this time in the Prince’s own bedchambers. Sebastian must assist the crown in proving its innocence, because the victim has mysterious ties to the mother Sebastian lost as a child.
I have absolutely no memory of how this story ended, who the murderer ended up being, or how Sebastian solved the crime. I vaguely remember hotel fires, mysterious lockets, and a conspiracy with France but in all honesty I could reread this and still not remember the culprit until the big reveal. I enjoy period piece mysteries quite a lot, so I don’t count my lack of memory against this book
I think anyone who enjoys British mysteries would enjoy the Sebastian St. Cyr series; I just don’t know that they’ll really stick with you. In any case they’re a fun, quick read and quite refreshing after having read something terrible, like I had (see previous CBR review).
