Tea at Trianon: When Maidens Mourn: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

When Maidens Mourn: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery

When Maidens Mourn is the seventh novel in the series by C.S. Harris featuring Sebastian St. Cyr, an aristocratic sleuth in Regency England who mingles effortlessly with all strata of society in order to solve crimes. It is the summer of 1812, and Sebastian and his bride, Hero, daughter of his archenemy Lord Jarvis, are awkwardly adjusting to married life when they hear the news that Hero’s friend Gabrielle Tennyson has been murdered. Gabrielle, a beautiful but eccentric lady antiquary, excelled at making enemies right and left, especially in her exploration of the possible site of King Arthur’s Camelot. Sebastian and Hero’s search for the murderer lead them all over London, from glittering drawing rooms and fashionable garden parties to crimes-ridden alleys and sordid taverns. Sebastian has a motley array of friends who help him out of the various predicaments in which he becomes entangled. In the meantime, he discovers that his young wife possesses wits that match his own in both audacity and determination. Recommended for those who enjoy detailed and authentic historical fiction as well as an enthralling mystery.

This review was originally published in the August 2012 edition of the Historical Novels Review.

(*NOTE: This book was sent to me by the Historical Novel Society in exchange for my honest opinion.)

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