2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion
This topic is about
Where Shadows Dance
Where Shadows Dance
>
Where Shadows Dance by C. S. Harris
date
newest »
newest »
I got this from the library today. It looks as if I'm way behind in discussions already this month. Was away from home for 10 days, and I missed my reading time!
Mod
Many thanks. Back to
tonight.
That’s the challenge confronting C.S. Harris’s aristocratic soldier-turned-sleuth Sebastian St. Cyr when his friend, surgeon and “anatomist” Paul Gibson, illegally buys the cadaver of a young man from London’s infamous body snatchers. A rising star at the Foreign Office, Mr. Alexander Ross was reported to have died of a weak heart. But when Gibson discovers a stiletto wound at the base of Ross’s skull, he can turn only to Sebastian for help in catching the killer.
Described by all who knew him as an amiable young man, Ross at first seems an unlikely candidate for murder. But as Sebastian’s search takes him from the Queen’s drawing rooms in St. James’s Palace to the embassies of Russia, the United States, and the Turkish Empire, he plunges into a dangerous shadow land of diplomatic maneuvering and international intrigue, where truth is an elusive commodity and nothing is as it seems.
Meanwhile, Sebastian must confront the turmoil of his personal life. Hero Jarvis, daughter of his powerful nemesis Lord Jarvis, finally agrees to become his wife. But as their wedding approaches, Sebastian can’t escape the growing realization that not only Lord Jarvis but Hero herself knows far more about the events surrounding Ross’s death than they would have him believe.
Then a second body is found, badly decomposed but bearing the same fatal stiletto wound. And Sebastian must race to unmask a ruthless killer who is now threatening the life of his reluctant bride and their unborn child.
51 Chapters
Character List
(view spoiler)[
Sebastian St. Cyr: Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. Tall, leanly built man, not yet 30 years old. He has dark hair and strange yellow eyes with the unnatural ability to see clearly at great distances or at night. Lord Hendon's only surviving son, they enjoy a very complicated and acrimonious relatiohship. St. Cyr's mother abandoned him at a young age which still affects him to this day. Never married, he was forced to forgo the love of his life, Kat Boleyn due to familial secrets.
Hero Jarvis: Daughter of Charles, Lord Jarvis and St. Cyr's enemy, She's tall, 25-years old with gray eyes and considered a spinster since she never married nor does she wish to. Independent minded, smart and not afraid of her father, she was previously kidnapped by St. Cyr, they have faced death together and worked together on previous mysteries. She's pregnant with his child and has agreed to marry him.
Paul Gibson: Former army surgeon, an Irishman who shared the battlefields with Sebastian where he lost a leg. Unmarried, he works out of a small surgery at the base of Tower Hill and shares his knowledge of anatomy at St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew's teaching hospitals. He frequently assists St. Cyr, his friend, with his murder investigations and provides an invaluable source of knowledge. He's 32-years old slim, dark haired and of medium height and has an opium addiction.
Alistair St. Cyr, Earl of Hendon: Sebastian's father to the world but in reality he was not. Sebastian recently learned he's not his biological father but the Earl has always known. He is, however, the father of Kat Bolyen, Sebastian's former lover, and allowed Sebastian to believe they were brother and sister. Currently the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his late sixties with deep blue eyes.
Henrietta, Dowager Duchess of Claiborne: Lord Hendon's sister, Sebastian and Amanda's aunt.
Kat Boleyn: Irish actress now toast of London. Former spy for the French. Sebastian's former lover who is now married to Russell Yates, a privateer.
Jules Calhoun: Sebastian's valet. Began his life in one of London's most notorious flash house, some of his unusual talents were of use to Sebastian who made solving murders his life's passion.
Charles, Lord Jarvis: A brilliant, ruthless man and cousin to the King. Completely dedicated to the preservation of the House of Hanover, he was considered the power behind Prinny (Prince Regent) weak Regency due to King George slipping into madness. In prior mysteries, St. Cyr had broken into Jarvis' house, held him at gunpoint and thrown a knife at him. They were not on the best of terms and neither trusted the other.
Annabelle, Lady Jarvis: Lord Jarvis' wife, Hero's mother.
Tom: Sebastian's 13-year old groom or tiger who is devoted to him because he rescued him from the streets after he saved Sebastian's life. Secures information for Sebastian due to living on the streets and his ability to go undetected.
Giles: Sebastian's middle aged groom.
Alexander Ross: Young man, 26-years old, who worked for the Foreign Office who was believed to have died of heart failure.
Sir Hyde Foley: Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ross' boss.
Lady Foley: Foley's much younger wife.
Sir Gareth Ross: Alexander Ross' brother, crippled in an accident. Alexander was his heir.
Dr. Astley Cooper: Doctor at St. Thomas' who pronounced Alexander as having died of weak heart. He's London's preeminent surgeon.
William Franklin: Benjamin Franklin's illegitimate (but recognized) son who teaches poor young boys. He was the former colonial Governor of New Jersey and a steadfast loyalist. He's raising his granddaughter, Ellen, the illegitimate daughter of his illegitimate son, Temple.
Collins O'Neal: Bethnel Green constable.
John Moore: Archbishop of Canterbury.
Morey: Sebastian's butler.
Grisham: Jarvis' butler.
Marie: Hero's maid.
Noah Poole: Ross' valet.
Mrs. Federico: Paul Gibson's housekeeper.
Sir Henry Lovejoy: Once the chief magistrate at Queen Square, now the newest of Bow Street’s three stipendiary magistrates, and friend of Sebastian.
Sabrina Cox: Heiress, Ross' fiancée and Hero's distant cousin.
Jasper Cox: Sabrina's unpleasant brother, a wealthy shipping merchant who owns the Rosehaven Trading Company.
Angelina Champagne: Ross' landlady, a French refugee. She's the proprietor of the coffee shop in the building.
Antoine de La Rocque: Former French priest, now a dealer in rare books and a French refugee.
Carl Lindquist: Swedish shipping merchant living in London.
Ambassador Ramadani: Turkish ambassador.
Yasmina Ramadani: Young and beautiful wife of the Turkish ambassador.
Nathan Bateman: American sailor impressed into the British navy. His father and sister are in London trying to get him released.
Jeremy Bateman: Nathan's father.
Elizabeth Bateman: Nathan's sister.
Ezekiel Kincaid: Recently arrived from America, works for Jasper Cox's shipping company.
Ian Pugh: Captain of the Baltimore Mary.
Colonel Dimitri Chernishav: Russian diplomatic officer, friend of Ross from when he was stationed in Russia for the Foreign Office.
Jack (Jumpin' Jack) Cochran: Man specializing in the "resurrection" trade (he removes bodies from graves).
Emma Knight: Distant relative Hero hires as her mother's companion.
Jamie Durban: Young lad who saw the body dump in Bethnal Green.
Jenny: Maid in Alexander's building.
Mrs. Blume: Alexander's near deaf neighbor.
Mr. Osborne: Alexander's reclusive neighbor.
Mr. Griffen: Alexander's next door neighbor.
(hide spoiler)]
Spoiler Info
(view spoiler)[
Ezekiel was the body found in the ditch at Bethnel Green. (hide spoiler)]