When Blood Lies is a richly atmospheric historical mystery set in Paris in March 1815, as King Louis XVIII sits uneasily on the restored Bourbon throne and Napoleon languishes in exile on Elba. Against this turbulent political backdrop, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, travels to France with his wife, Hero, to search for his long-lost mother, Sophie, Countess of Hendon.
Their quest ends in shock when Sebastian finds Sophie dying at the edge of the Île de la Cité, stabbed and thrown from the ancient bridge. Living under an assumed name as the mistress of Maréchal Alexandre McClellan—a prominent Scottish Jacobite exile and former Napoleonic general now aligned with the Bourbons—Sophie has become an inconvenient scandal in a city eager to move on.
With French authorities unwilling to investigate the death of a notorious Englishwoman during delicate negotiations at the Congress of Vienna, Sebastian undertakes the hunt for her killer himself. His investigation pulls him into a labyrinth of old loyalties, shifting allegiances, and dangerous secrets that could jeopardize newly won European peace.
Blending vivid period detail with a deeply personal quest for truth, When Blood Lies will appeal to readers who enjoy historical mysteries filled with political intrigue, family secrets, and emotionally charged stakes.
- Historical mystery set in post-Napoleonic Paris
- Features investigator-aristocrat Sebastian St. Cyr and his wife, Hero
- Themes of family, identity, loyalty, and power
