Narrated by Davina Porter
Mild series spoilers follow. Who Slays the Wicked is not the book to start with. For maximum enjoyment, begin at book one What Angels Fear.
Who Slays the Wicked is book 14 of C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. It is April 1814 and the allied army is marching into Paris hoping to finally defeat Napoleon. The Grand Duchess Catherine of Oldenburg is in London as part of the anticipated victory celebration. Demolition is happening in preparation for the Regent’s fashionable new street. And, someone has killed Viscount Ashworth, the husband of Sebastian’s niece, Stephanie. Sebastian is very worried that Stephanie may in fact be the murderer and the bloody handprint the size and shape of a female hand found at the scene seems ominous.
I love how Ms. Harris weaves historical fact into her mysteries. Apart from anything else, I learn fascinating things about English history. I didn’t know, for example, the origin and history of Regent Street. The series is so definitively grounded in place and time and has such a ring of authenticity about it.
As Sebastian investigates the murder, he explores leads indicating a connection with the Russian delegation, his own niece, a tarot card reader and even the architect/builder responsible for the Regent’s new street. And Hero, continuing her series of articles about London’s poor, investigates rag-and-bone pickers and night soil men. There are of course links between the two pursuits. As the body count rises, the danger to Sebastian increases.
There was less of a romantic arc in Who Slays the Wicked than there has been in previous books. Hero and Sebastian are settled and happily married but I could have used just one intimate scene (they’re never very explicit, which is totally fine). Instead, there are scenes of the couple talking and embracing and working together (satisfying in themselves) but not much by way of swoonworthy kisses.
Because of the awful man Ashworth was, there are references to sexual assault and there is also a non-graphic mention of child sexual abuse so listeners should take that into account before deciding to start the book.
I did think there was a bit of magical hand-waving at the end. I’d have liked a few more details about how everything was tidied up. And I didn’t completely buy the murderer. Something didn’t quite gel for me there. Even so, the listen was well worth my time and I still enjoyed the book very much.
The narration, by Davina Porter, is excellent. There were a couple of small errors – at one point she referred to Ashworth as “Ashcroft” and there were a few occasions where her voice sounded a little gurgle-y (that’s the best way I can think of to describe it) and it seemed like she was tripping over her words a little but for the most part, Ms. Porter’s performance was wonderful. She delivers such a good range of character voices – male and female, young and old – and accents. Perhaps her Russian accent isn’t the best (though far from terrible) but the others were stellar.
I also enjoy the way she vocalises the connection between Hero and Sebastian. I freely admit I’m mostly in it for the romance – any scene where Sebastian and Hero are together (with or without Simon) is going to be a favourite.
Who Slays the Wicked was another very good instalment in a favourite series. I think fans will be very happy with this one. Now begins the wait for the next book! (Poor authors – we voracious listeners are never satisfied are we?)
Kaetrin
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