{"id":358,"date":"2007-03-29T10:06:57","date_gmt":"2007-03-29T14:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=358"},"modified":"2025-10-01T19:01:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:01:04","slug":"what-angels-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/358","title":{"rendered":"What Angels Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Angels Fear<\/a><\/em> (2005) C.S. Harris<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a somewhat dissolute young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A prickly relationship with his father and a willingness to fight duels have not helped his reputation, but he doesn’t much seem to care. However, when he becomes the suspect in a horrible rape and murder case, we can see that he doesn’t really have a death wish, and despite his protestations, his sense of honor and his desire for justice, have remained intact.<\/p>\n

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and very much liked Sebastian St Cyr. Despite all he has seen, and his wish to be cynical, he is still deeply connected to the world around him, and is offended by injustice–and not just the injustice of his own situation. But mostly I found him a very likable character. I also liked his she created a background for him that made him a good investigator. Serving in the military gave him one set of skills, but working in intelligence gave him yet another set of skills, both of which served him well as he attempts to clear his name.<\/p>\n

Her attention to detail was also something that I particularly liked, and it always makes me feel a little better when the author of a period book is an historian. Not that the rest of us can’t get details right, but I think there is something about loving history so much you’re willing to get a degree in it that imparts itself when an historian writes a story set in the past. C.S. Harris filled the story with lots of little details mentioned almost in passing that made the period come to life, which I thoroughly enjoyed. <\/p>\n

The writing was also very good. The pacing of the story was fast, and I had to force myself put the book down at night, or else I would have stayed up all night finishing it. <\/p>\n

The dialog was also well done and enjoyable.<\/p>\n

“Those rumors I mentioned?” Christopher said in an undertone as he and Sebastian moved forward. “They say the last time Talbot fought a duel, he chose twenty-five paces, then turned and fired after twelve. Killed the man. Of course, Talbot and his second swore the distance had been settled at twelve paces all along.”<\/p>\n

“And his rival’s second?”<\/p>\n

“Shut up about it when Talbot threatened to call him out–for naming Talbot a liar.”<\/p>\n

Sebastian gave his friend a slow smile. “Then if Talbot should have occasion to call you out for a similar reason, I suggest you choose swords.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I did, however, have a couple of caveats about this book. I am not sure if I am going to recommend it to my grandmother, because it does have a bit of boinking, and the descriptions of the murder of Rachel York are quite brutal. The murder itself is not described, but the is a good deal of detail about the body and the blood etc. So if you are squeamish, you might be bothered by portions of this book. <\/p>\n

All in all, I very much enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to the next book–which is sitting in my Amazon shopping cart as I type. If you like historical mysteries and thrillers, then you should definitely pick up What Angels Fear<\/em>.
\nRating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Angels Fear (2005) C.S. Harris Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a somewhat dissolute young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A prickly relationship with his father and a willingness to fight duels have not helped his reputation, but he doesn’t much seem to care. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,30,33,8,291],"tags":[59,547,548,60],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-paper","tag-c-s-harris","tag-napoleonic-era","tag-regency","tag-sebastian-st-cyr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5M","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23591,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23591","url_meta":{"origin":358,"position":0},"title":"What Angels Fear, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"May 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"What Angels Fear, Audio Book (2005\/2014) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr) Set in England in 1811 A young actress has been found horribly murdered, in St Matthews of the Fields' Lady Chapel, and a deuling pistol with Viscount Devlin's device on the trigger guard. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"What Angels Fear","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/03\/What-Angels-Fear-e1511019296849.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":878,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/878","url_meta":{"origin":358,"position":1},"title":"Where Serpents Sleep","author":"Michelle","date":"December 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Where Serpents Sleep (2008) C.S. Harris I really like C.S. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries. In fact, now that I've finished the latest, Where Serpents Sleep I'm depressed I'll have to wait at least a year before the next book in the series comes out. Sebastian has been leading a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/Where-Serpents-Sleep.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23765,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23765","url_meta":{"origin":358,"position":2},"title":"When Falcons Fall, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"July 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When Falcons Fall, Audiobook (2016) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr # 11) Set in England in 1813 Content warnings: rape (off page) Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has come to this seemingly peaceful Shropshire village to honor a slain friend and on a quest to learn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"When Falcons Fall","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/When-Falcons-Fall-1-e1510881264585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23795,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23795","url_meta":{"origin":358,"position":3},"title":"Why Kill the Innocent, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"July 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Why Kill the Innocent, Audiobook (2018) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr # 13) Set in London in 1814 Content warnings: rape \u201cI was hoping I\u2019d find you here,\u201d said Devlin pleasantly. Jarvis kept walking. \u201cI wish I could say I\u2019m delighted not to have disappointed you,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Why Kill the Innocent","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Why-Kill-the-Innocent.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23593,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23593","url_meta":{"origin":358,"position":4},"title":"When Gods Die, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"May 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When Gods Die, Audio Book (2006\/2015) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr) Set in England in 1811. At the Prince Regents dinner party, the beautiful young wife of an elderly marquis is found dead--stabbed in the back, her clothing partially undone. Jarvis immediately starts to cover up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23762,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23762","url_meta":{"origin":358,"position":5},"title":"Who Buries the Dead, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"July 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Who Buries the Dead, Audiobook (2015) C.S. Harris narrated by Davina Porter (Sebastian St. Cyr # 10) Set in England in 1813. 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