Who Slays the Wicked by C.S. Harris, HC $35

I have read a paltry 28 books in 2019, which given my goal was 100, is a mortifying number to report. Of those 29 books, I gave five of them five stars. Of those five star titles, I would have been permitted to select four of them (rules!). So let me tell you here quickly, since I know Michael is about to break the rules a little bit immediately below me, that Sherry Thomas’s The Art of Theft is truly wonderful and if you haven’t started her Lady Sherlock series yet, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Now look, is it a total jerk move to tell you that my book of the year is number FOURTEEN in a series and a hardcover to boot? Yes. Classic Bumsted move. But I have my reasons. In January 2015 I was job-searching and home A LOT. I read C.S. Harris’ What Angels Fear, the first book in her Sebastian St. Cyr series. Then over the next FIVE days, I read the following eight books. It is an unputdownable series with a captivating protagonist, enough romance and history to make it interesting, and a compelling secondary character in Hero, St. Cyr’s wife. The good news is that you could pick up Who Slays the Wicked and not need to read the first thirteen books. The even better news is that you’re just going to want to read them anyways, so you’ll have me to thank you that joyous experience as well.

Who Slays the Wicked combines history with the timelessness of how dangerous secrets can be and just how far we would go to protect the people we love. Plus, there’s a trade paperback coming in March.