C.S. Harris What Angels Fear

What Angels Fear

C.S. Harris

NAL, Nov 2005, $23.95, 352 pp.

ISBN: 0451216695

In 1811 London, Rachel York believes she has found sanctuary in the fourteenth century constructed Lady Chapel of the 800 years old St. Matthew of Field. However, she soon learns her mistake as an assailant brutally rapes and murder her on alter steps.

Amidst the bloody body is found a fancy dueling pistol that belongs to Viscount Sebastian St. Cyr, who suffers from combat fatigue. He is not just the prime suspect, he is the only one. Knowing only he wants to prove his innocence and expose the person who framed him, he flees into the night before he can sent to Newgate. He begins making inquires with the help of people he would never have met before going on the lam and from someone from his past, but the proof he slowly accumulates points to the fact that Rachel is more than just a victim and all leads end with an unknown untouchable with regal connections.

WHAT ANGELS FEAR is a fantastic action-packed Regency amateur sleuth tale that starts at a frenzied pace and never slows down until the climax; yet in spite of the daring deeds of the hero and dastardly deeds of the villain, Sebastian is a fully developed character. Readers will understand the problems he confronts from his war experience and his previously broken heart, but appreciate his antics starting with a duel in which he shoots his cheating opponent in the arse as he sets out to prove his innocence while others want him incarcerated or dead. This strong historical who-done-it stars a likable protagonist.

Harriet Klausner