Who Cries for the Lost

In June 1815, with London holding its breath for news from Waterloo, Sebastian St. Cyr is sidelined by a recent wound when the mutilated body of Major Miles Sedgewick surfaces from the Thames. The victim's bigamous marriage to Alexi Sauvage, the woman who shares Sebastian's friend Paul Gibson's life, makes Gibson immediately suspect, and Sebastian's investigation reveals a man with a list of enemies that grows longer the more of his life comes to light. C.S. Harris sets the eighteenth Sebastian novel at one of history's pivotal moments, using the tension of Waterloo's uncertain outcome as counterpoint to the personal stakes.

Jenny Sterlin has established herself as the series' primary narrator alongside Davina Porter, and her command of the period and the ensemble gives this entry consistent authority. Her handling of Alexi Sauvage, a recurring character whose history with Sebastian is complicated, is particularly careful. The novel's dual atmosphere, public historical suspense and private murder investigation, is managed with the ease that characterizes the stronger entries in this long-running series.