REVIEW: His Wicked Sins

Eve Silver
His Wicked Sins
Zebra
ISBN-10: 0821781294
ISBN-13: 9788217812946
Gothic historical romance
August 5, 2008

It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a Gothic and with the paranormal load I’ve been hefting lately, it was a refreshing read, yet not too off the dark and deadly path from said paranormals. In that I mean the ill wind/foreboding tone that unfurls from the moment this book starts. It was great! This author knows how to set an eerie mood and keep a reader in suspense. And bonus – it came with some of the most hauntingly beautiful prose I’ve read in a while too.

In Yorkshire, at the Burndale school for young girls, residents are menaced by an unseen evil, one that sets its sights on the pretty teachers there. A series of murders has haunted them and it’s this unwelcoming atmosphere that heralds Elizabeth Canham’s arrival. Set to take a teaching position herself, she feels the not-quite-right air about the school. More importantly, she endeavors to contain the memories it rouses, of a time of pain and fear. Even as she struggles to control the ghosts of her past, they’re coming to life again, right before her very eyes.

Griffin Fairfax can’t help but be fascinated by the woman that is somehow able to get through to his troubled daughter. Elizabeth has no doubt been through something terrible herself, yet he admires her quiet fortitude and haunted strength. When more murders crop up, his disreputable younger days come back to haunt him. He can see the new young miss is wary of him, as she should be. For Griffin is a terrible man, capable of dire things and culpable in so many ways. The most terrible of all, that for which he can never forgive himself has even torn a chasm between him and his daughter. There’s something in her new teacher though, something that gives him hope…and a desire he cannot deny.

His Wicked Sins drew me right in from the very first page, as we travel with Elizabeth, or Beth as she’s called for most of the book, on her way to her new life as a teacher. Beth has within herself an innate sense of self, though it is somewhat buried too beneath those memories that haunt her. It’s almost as if we’re getting to watch that sense of self unfold and blossom into a spirited and strong young woman. Her past has made her observant and careful, instilled within her traits that will actually save her in the long run. It wasn’t hard at all for me to admire her for her compassion with Griffin’s daughter, Isobel, or for her determination to make her own opinions about him rather than relying on rumor. His was a woman I could very well see all the things within that Griffin does.

Griffin himself is not without his secrets and silent self-condemnations. In fact, I loved and loved how he’s drawn out as this unapologetically depraved man, seemingly capable of horrible misdeeds and travesties. Granted, a lot of the rumors about him are encouraged by his mocking silence whenever the subject is brought up, but Griffin’s reasons aren’t without merit – he truly feels responsible for the very things these rumors accuse him of. Throw in the strained relationship with his daughter and the man is someone I felt immense sympathy for, yet at the same time wondering if I was sympathizing with a murderer. I simply did not know and loved the on my toes reading this book had me in.

When together, he and Beth make for a scorching pair. There’s some really excellent sexual tension in this book, and Griffin’s shadowed exterior only adds to it:

With actions instinctive and swift, he drew her wrist up, breathed deep. She gasped and twitched but did not pull away.
Pressing his mouth to the soft skin on the inside, he ran his tongue along the crease, tasting her. So sweet. Christ, so sweet.
She froze, trembling in her place. He could feel the pulse at her wrist, pounding wildly.
“Mr. Fairfax,” she whispered. “You overstep the bounds of polite company.”
Without raising his head, he cut her a glance through his lashes and swirled his tongue over her skin, a luscious taste of her, before offering his reply against her skin.
“Yes, I do overstep. You see, I have little care for the bounds of polite company. Make no mistake about the sort of man I am, Ms. Canham.”

I’d reveal a bit more following that passage, but this book deserves to be savored slowly and by the individual reader. But you can see quite clearly that Griffin sees himself as a villain. It’s nuances, some subtle, others not so much, like this one, that lend a foreboding air to him as well as other characters and the overall plot till I wasn’t sure where Griffin’s loyalties resided, not till a certain point at least. He was, of course, too sensual for even this reader to resist.

What really tickled my reading fancy though was how the plot is woven throughout so seamlessly. We’re treated to flashbacks by another character, ones that tie directly into the current murders at Burndale, and also the inner musings of a truly sick individual, our resident murderer, who really could be any number of characters populating the book. Combined with the inner circle of mystery surrounding Beth and Griffin’s relationship, I felt quite kept on my toes and was actually delighted to be surprised who the killer was.

The writing itself is superb. I found myself rereading certain bits and pieces, not because I couldn’t understand them, but because they were truly beautiful to read. Even scenes of gruesome malice were so mesmerizing; I couldn’t book the book down when I darn well needed to be doing other things. The pacing was good – not too fast, not too slow and the plot was solid. There are no unanswered questions (though I did wonder why the village residents never really questioned the murders very hard) and towards the end, things begin to tie together in such a way that I was able to recall almost instantly where the seeds were originally planted earlier throughout the book. This was one book that I fully enjoyed for everything it offered. While I didn’t care for how easily the murderer is taken care of and his part resolved, there was so much to love about this book that it didn’t much matter at the end. I will definitely be checking out more of this author’s historical work.

Rating: Four and a half scoops

Eve Silver also writes as Eve Kenin, penning contemporary paranormals for the Shomi imprint at Dorchester publishing. You can find out more about her work by visiting her site.