Book review: What Angels Fear, C. S. Harris

[riontel]

First in the Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series by C. S. Harris. It could have done with fewer descriptions of admittedly lousy London weather, and especially of the way that weather smells(!). Also, I suspect that constructs such as "sexual assault" were not common to the early 19th century, if used at all. I figured out the murderer about half way through, likely not because I am so clever (though I certainly am exceedingly clever ;) but because the main goal of the story was to show the Machiavellian intricacies of British politics and iniquities of the society of the times. At least that's what I thought. I liked the protagonist, who was clever, sarcastic and jaded in just the right measure. The writing was rough in spots and wanted a bit more authenticity, there were few rather preachy bits I didn't care for, and way too many smells but overall it was a good book for an easy summer reading. I would recommend this if you like historical (specific period is immediately pre-Regency) mysteries.