WHO SLAYS THE WICKED, by C. S. Harris

Further adventures of Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, Regency-era not-exacty-nobleman sleuth and upsetter of applecarts. Devlin,  acknowledged heir to the Earl of Hendon, is asked to investigate the grisly murder of a sadistic nobleman who happens to be his own niece's dissolute husband. Found slashed to death in his bed, limbs tied with scarlet silk cords,  there is not a single person who mourns the end of Lord Ashworth. But St. Cyr, as always, will try to find the killer. It quickly is evident the murderer well could be a woman. Which leads St. Cyr reluctantly down a path to his beloved neice.
As always, Hero Jarvis plays an important part in the story, as do St. Cyr's physician friend Dr. Gibson. For evil pomposity, we get St. Cyr's father-in-law Charles, Lord Jarvis, and the bloated Prince Regent, Prinny. The great and good are contrasted through Hero's research with the mass of unwashed, uneducated, tragic humans upon whose backs the entire system rode.
I am totally hooked on this series.  They should be read in order if only to keep track of the twists and turns Devlin takes in his search for the truth about his own heritage. The first book will grab you, and the rest is gripping reading and a series of crimes that illuminate the glittering, glamorous, grisly, gruesome era. As always, the rich and connected had it good and the rest did not. Harris brings it to vivid life. A 5+, what else?

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