Refined Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Book 20 Title

In this electrifying new historical mystery by the USA Today bestselling author of What Cannot Be Said, the gruesome murder of a prominent nobleman throws an already unsettled London into chaos. August 1816 finds England 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.

In this electrifying new historical mystery, the author skillfully weaves a tale of intrigue and suspense, set against the backdrop of a nation grappling with the aftermath of war and the forces of nature. The vivid depiction of the unsettled atmosphere in London, both literal and figurative, adds depth and urgency to the investigation, as Sebastian St. Cyr races against time to uncover the killer's identity and motives. With its rich historical detail, complex characters, and gripping plot, this book promises to captivate readers and leave them eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series.

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