Who Cries for the Lost (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery)
The body of a young man found in the Thames is being examined in Paul Gibson’s surgery. It bears signs of a savage attack—the man’s face so badly damaged it is unrecognizable, his genitals slashed and torn away. Only the saber scars on his chest provide clues to his identity: the husband of Gibson’s lover Alexi Sauvage. Worried that Alexi will be a prime suspect in the man’s murder, her and Gibson’s friend, amateur detective Sebastian St. Cyr, begins an investigation.
Who Cries for the Lost is the 18th in the highly regarded and popular Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series. Set in 1815, this latest volume reflects the political machinations in England and on the Continent after Napoleon escapes from Elba, takes over the palace when Louis XVIII flees, and moves toward the battle of Waterloo.
Backstory elements and themes are powerful—the unconscionable treatment of French POWs abandoned on the island of Cabrera after the 1808 battle of Bailén, for instance. However, quick cuts from one character to the next and the multitude of side plots and red herrings dilute the impact. Inconsistent references to characters or aliases add confusion. (St. Cyr is sometimes referred to as Sebastian; other times by his title Viscount Devlin. The dead man is Miles Sauvage and also Miles Sedgewick.) A reader unfamiliar with the series and recurring characters, like this one, therefore, can be easily lost.
