Who Slays the Wicked?
By: C.S. Harris
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 349
I received a copy of this book in exchange for review. This in no way shape or form has influenced my opinion of this book.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When the handsome but dissolute young gentleman Lord Ashworth is found brutally murdered, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is called in by Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy to help catch the killer. Just seven months before, Sebastian had suspected Ashworth of aiding one of his longtime friends and companions in the kidnapping and murder of a string of vulnerable street children. But Sebastian was never able to prove Ashworth's complicity. Nor was he able to prevent his troubled, headstrong young niece Stephanie from entering into a disastrous marriage with the dangerous nobleman.
Stephanie has survived the difficult birth of twin sons. But Sebastian soon discovers that her marriage has quickly degenerated into a sham. Ashworth abandoned his pregnant bride at his father's Park Street mansion and has continued living an essentially bachelor existence. And mounting evidence--ranging from a small bloody handprint to a woman's silk stocking--suggests that Ashworth's killer was a woman. Sebastian is tasked with unraveling the shocking nest of secrets surrounding Ashworth's life to keep Stephanie from being punished for his death.
First Impressions
This is the fourth Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery that I have read. You can read my review of the previous one here. I am a bit sad that they have moved away from the over the top colorful covers and instead have these black and white ones. Even though the colorful ones were a bit cheesy, they were at least fun.
What I thought
I enjoyed this story a lot. I started reading this series pretty late, as I hadn’t read (or even heard of) the books before being asked to review one of them. Because of that, there is a lot of information that I don’t know much about. But I do find that with each book I read, I enjoy the series more and more.
In this story, Sebastian/Viscount Devlin, is investigating the murder of Ashworth. Ashworth is the husband of his niece Stephanie and an all in all terribly evil man. This story is a bit unlike the others as the murder victim is not one that anyone sympathizes with. In fact, there are a lot of suspects because of how many people disliked him.
I still get a bit confused with the large cast of characters in this series. Especially because each character has multiple names that are used interchangeably from sentence to sentence. However, now that I know the characters a little bit, it is getting easier. This story also focused pretty solely on the murder and didn’t reach into a lot of the other backstories or secondary stories.
I was a bit shocked by who the murderer ended up being which I always appreciate in a mystery. I don’t have too much to say about this book because, while I did like it, not much happened. Especially because I don’t like to give much away with mysteries.
These books are good fun. I tend to forget about them until I get another offer to review them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. Is this a series I would have picked up on my own? No. But is it a series that keeps my attention and is a fun read? Yes.
Who Slays the Wicked is a solid contribution to a series which, in its 14th book only seems to be getting better.