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Who Will Remember
Who Will Remember?
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Who Will Remember by C. S. Harris
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August 1816. England is in the grip of what will become known as the Year Without a Summer. Facing the twin crises of a harvest-destroying volcanic winter and the economic disruption caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the British monarchy finds itself haunted by the looming threat of bloody riots not seen since the earliest days of the French Revolution. Amidst the turmoil, a dead man is found hanging upside down by one leg in an abandoned chapel, his hands tied behind his back. The pose eerily echoes the image depicted on a tarot card known as Le Pendu, the Hanged Man. The victim—Lord Preston Farnsworth, the younger brother of one of the Regent’s boon companions—was a passionate crusader against what he called the forces of darkness, namely criminality, immorality, and sloth. His brutal murder shocks the Palace and panics the already troubled populace.
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, learns of the murder from a ragged orphan who leads him to the corpse and then disappears. At first, everyone in the dead man’s orbit paints Lord Preston as a selfless saint. But as Sebastian delves deeper into his life, he quickly realizes that the man had accumulated more than his fair share of enemies, including Major Hugh Chandler, a close friend who once saved Sebastian’s life. Sebastian also discovers that the pious Lord Preston may have been much more dangerous than those he sought to redeem.
As dark clouds press down on the city and the rains fall unceasingly, two more victims are found, one strangled and one shot, with ominous tarot cards placed on their bodies. The killer is sending a gruesome message and Sebastian is running out of time to decipher it before more lives are lost and a fraught post-war London explodes.
Settings
London, England (August 1816)
60 Chapters
Character List
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Recurring Characters
Sebastian St. Cyr, Lord Devlin: 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. He was forced to forgo the love of his life, Kat Boleyn due to familial secrets. He's now married to Hero and father of their toddler son, Simon.
Hero Jarvis St. Cyr, Lady Devlin: Viscountess Devlin. Daughter of Charles, Lord Jarvis and St. Cyr's enemy, She's tall, 25-years old with gray eyes and was considered a spinster until she married Sebastian. Independent minded, smart and not afraid of her father. She and Sebastian have a toddler son, Simon, and she’s six-months pregnant.
Simon Alistair St. Cyr: Sebastian and Hero's 3-year old son.
Guinevere Annabelle Sophia St. Cyr: Sebastian’s and Hero’s 9-month old daughter.
Patrick St. Cyr: Pippa’s son who she left with Sebastian and Hero when she went to America with Ian. He’s Sebastian’s nephew but is being raised as his son.
Claire Bisette: Simon, Patrick and Guinevere’s nursemaid. She lost her 3-year old daughter before coming to work for the St. Cyrs.
Tom: Sebastian's 15-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.
Betsy: Nursery maid.
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 in his mid-thirties, slim, dark haired and of medium height and has an opium addiction. Alexi is his lover and lives with him.
Alexandri (Alexi) Sauvage: French doctor currently living with Paul.
Charles, Lord Jarvis: 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. He's Hero's father and is now married to Victoria, his deceased wife Annabelle’s cousin.
Annabelle, Lady Jarvis: Lord Jarvis' deceased wife, Hero's mother.
Emma Knight: Young widow who was Annabelle's companion.
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.
Sophie St. Cyr: aka Dama Capello. Sebastian’s mother who was believed to have drowned when he was a child. However, he recently learned that was untrue.
Henrietta, Dowager Duchess of Claiborne: Lord Hendon's sister, Sebastian and Amanda's aunt. She has a son, Claiborne who is married to Emily.
Lady Amanda Wilcox: Oldest of the St. Cyr siblings, Sebastian's sister. Her husband drowned as he was attempting to murder Sebastian. He had already murdered several people. Mother of Bayard and Stephanie.
Lord Bayard Wilcox: Amanda’s son.
Stephanie Wilcox Ledger, Lady Ashworth: Amanda's daughter. She was married to Anthony and mother of twin sons.
Anthony Marcus Ledger, Viscount Ashworth: Stephanie's abusive husband, now deceased. He was thirty-two years old when he was murdered, handsome, wellborn, and extraordinarily wealthy.
James Ledger: Stephanie’s son, Adrian’s twin.
Adrian Ledger: Stephanie’s infant son, James’ twin.
Sir Henry Lovejoy: Once the chief magistrate at Queen Square, now the newest of Bow Street’s three stipendiary magistrates, and friend of Sebastian.
Morey: Sebastian's majordomo.
Jules Calhoun: Sebastian's valet. Began his life in one of London's most notorious flash house, some of his unusual talents are of use to Sebastian from time to time.
Grace Calhoun: Jules’ mother, a famous underworld figure. She operates the Red Lion Inn.
Giles: Sebastian's groom.
Victoria Hart-Davis: Annabelle's distant cousin who continues to live in and run the Jarvis’ household. She’s Jarvis’ wife and Sebastian suspects she killed Annabelle.
Kat Boleyn: Actress who was Sebastian's first love. She's Hendon's illegitimate daughter.
Edward Burnside: Former hussar major and Jarvis' henchman.
Ashur Kemp: Jarvis’ aide.
George Augustus Frederick: aka Prinny. Prince of Wales and Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales: Sole legitimate issue of the Prince of Wales and heiress presumptive to the throne. Her mother is Princess Caroline.
Princess Caroline: Princess of Wales and estranged wife of the Prince of Wales, Charlotte’s mother.
Grisham: Jarvis’s butler.
Jamie Knox: Former owner of the Black Devil tavern who was killed during an attempt on Sebastian’s life. He was a former sharpshooter for the army and looked like Sebastian and is suspected to have been his half brother. He was also a reputed smuggler.
Pippa: Barkeep and owner of the Black Devil tavern. She was Jamie's girlfriend and mother of their son, Patrick.
Non Recurring Characters
Jamie Gallagher: Orphan who discovered Farnsworth’s body.
Jenny Gallagher: Jamie’s sister.
Liam Gallagher: Jamie’s father.
Lord Preston Farnsworth: Murder victim. He’s the younger son of the third Duke of Eversfield.
Archibald Douglas Farnsworth, Duke of Eversfield: Preston’s brother.
Lady Hester Farnsworth: Preston’s spinster sister who lives with him.
Lady Theresa (Tess) Farnsworth: Preston’s wife who ran off with Hugh Chandler.
Major Hugh Chandler: Calvary officer who ran off with Preston’s wife. He’s Sebastian’s friend who helped save his life during the war.
Jasper James Hayworth: Earl of Whitcomb and Tess’s brother.
Nathaniel Conant: Chief Magistrate of Bow Street Public Office.
Windell Barr: Chief Magistrate of Great Marlborough Street Public Office.
Madame Blanchette: Cartomancer.
Father Ambrose de Sancerre: French priest who tutors students.
Mallory, Lord Quinton-Thomas: One of Farnsworth’s enemies.
Viscount Sidmouth: Home Secretary.
Maréchal Alexandre McClellan: Former Napoleonic general who Sebastian bears a close resemblance to.
Lancelot Plimsoll: Natural scientist.
Billy Callaghan: Soldier Hero is interviewing.
Eli Dawson: Sailor Hero is interviewing.
Alexander Watson: Former sergeant Hero interviewed.
Crispin Carmichael: Rector of St. George’s, Hanover Square.
Henry (Harry) McGregor: aka Half-Hanged Harry.
Sally McGregor: Harry’s sister.
Horace Bottomley: Keeper at Tothill Fields Bridewell.
Letitia Lamont: Abbess (brothel madam).
Damion Pitcairn: Violinist.
Leonard Dudley: Farnsworth’s valet.
Noël Cartier: Bourbon assassin.
Rasim Ataman: Turkish astrology.
Bridget Daniels: Young prostitute who was almost murdered.
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