In this paperback reprint, a brutal murder draws nobleman Sebastian St. Cyr into the tangled web of the British royal court in this gripping historical mystery from the national bestselling author of Where the Dead Lie . London, 1814. As a cruel winter holds the city in its icy grip, the bloody body of a beautiful young musician is found half-buried in a snowdrift. Jane Ambrose's ties to Princess Charlotte, the only child of the Prince Regent and heir presumptive to the throne, panic the palace, which moves quickly to shut down any investigation into the death of the talented pianist. But Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife, Hero, refuse to allow Jane's murderer to escape justice. Untangling the secrets of Jane's world leads Sebastian into a maze of dangerous treachery where each player has his or her own unsavory agenda and no one can be trusted. As the Thames freezes over and the people of London pour onto the ice for a Frost Fair, Sebastian and Hero find their investigation circling back to the palace and building to a chilling crescendo of deceit and death . . . Praise for Why Kill the Innocent “The best St. Cyr yet.”— Booklist “The mystery highlights the circumscribed course of women’s lives of the Regency era while exposing the rot that underlies the period’s glitter…. Highly recommended for lovers of historical thrillers.”—Library Journal, starred review Praise for  When Falcons Fall   “Harris’ talent for character development, polished prose, and accurate, Regency-era details makes this eleventh or any of the previous 10 an easy starting point for newcomers to the Sebastian St. Cyr series...Psychologically atmospheric like Imogen Robertson’s Westerman and Crowther mysteries, with the skewering social wit of Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, this is historical mystery at its best.”— Booklist  (starred review)   “An engrossing tangled mystery and astonishing tale about a tragic search for identity. An excellent choice for St. Cyr fans and readers of historical mysteries.”— Library Journal   “Strong...[an] intricate murder puzzle.”— Publishers Weekly   Praise for the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series   “This riveting historical tale of tragedy and triumph, with its sly nods to Jane Austen and her characters, will enthrall you.”—Sabrina Jeffries,  New York Times  bestselling author    “Sebastian St. Cyr is everything you could want in a Regency-era nobleman-turned–death investigator: uncannily clever, unwaveringly reserved, and irresistibly sexy. The entire series is simply elegant.”—Lisa Gardner, #1  New York Times  bestselling author   “Thoroughly enjoyable . . . Moody and atmospheric, exposing the dark underside of Regency London.”—Deanna Raybourn,  New York Times  bestselling author C. S. Harris is the national bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries ( Where the Dead Lie , When Falcons Fall , Who Buries the Dead , Why Kings Confess , What Darkness Brings ); as C. S. Graham, a thriller series coauthored by former intelligence officer Steven Harris; and seven award-winning historical romances written under the name Candice Proctor. Chapter 1 Clerkenwell, London: Thursday, 27 January 1814 A  howling wind flung icy snow crystals into Hero Devlin's face, stinging her cold cheeks and stealing her breath. She kept her head bowed, her fists clenched in the fine cloth of her merino carriage gown as she struggled to drag its sodden weight through the knee-deep drifts clogging the ancient winding lane. A footman with a lantern staggered ahead of her to light the darkness, for Clerkenwell was a wretched, dangerous area on the outskirts of the City, and night had fallen long ago. She was here, alone except for the footman and a petite French midwife who floundered through the snow in her wake, because of an article she was writing on the hardships faced by the families of men snatched off the streets by the Royal Navy's infamous press gangs. The midwife, Alexi Sauvage, had offered to introduce Hero to the desperate eight-months-pregnant wife of a recently impressed cooper. No one had expected the woman to go into labor just as a fierce snowstorm swept in to render the narrow lanes of the district impassable to a gentlewoman's carriage. Thanks to their presence, mother and child both survived the long, hard birth. But the snow just kept getting deeper. "Do you see it yet?" Alexi called, peering through the whirl of white toward where Hero's carriage awaited them at the base of Shepherds' Lane. Hero brought up a cold-numbed hand to shield her eyes. "It should be j-" She broke off as her foot caught on something half-buried in the snow and she pitched forward to land in a deep drift on quickly outflung hands. She started to push up again, then froze as she realized she was staring at the tousled dark hair of a body that lay facedown beside her. The footman swung about in alarm, the light from his lant