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For book clubs looking for a Readers Guide to Why Mermaids Sing, we offer two—one serious and literary, the other more fun.
First, the Serious Questions:
1. The title Why Mermaids Sing is a play on a line from a poem by John Donne. What resonance does this poem have with the murderer's motive for the killings?
2. Each of the victims in this book is found with a strange object stuffed in his mouth-the severed hoof of a goat, a page from a ship's log, a papier—mâché star, a mandrake root. Why?
3. Why does Sir Henry Lovejoy, the chief magistrate of Queen Square investigating these murders, ask for Sebastian's help?
4. Sebastian is reluctant to become involved in this investigation. "He didn't want this again…didn't want to find himself sucked into the midst of the kind of tortured emotions that destroyed people's lives. Murder always seemed to lead to more killing and Sebastian was tired of killing. Tired of Death." (p. 9) Why does Sebastian agree to help Lovejoy?
5. Sebastian continues to have valet problems in this book. Why has the author chosen to add this subplot? What do these problems tell us about Sebastian?
6. The love of Sebastian's life is an Irish actress named Kat Boleyn. Why won't Kat agree to marry Sebastian? How do the events of the book impact her decision?
7. Kat faces a danger of her own in this book. Why won't she tell Sebastian someone is threatening her? What secret is she hiding from Sebastian?
8. Once again, the King's cousin Charles, Lord Jarvis, appears as a menacing figure. What is Jarvis's attitude toward Sebastian? Sebastian's attitude toward Jarvis? What is the situation between the two by the end of the book?
9. Sebastian's relationship with his father is strained. Why? How is that relationship altered by the events in this book?
10. Sebastian's father, the Earl of Hendon, has a secret of his own. What hints does the author give readers about the nature of this secret?
11. In this book, Sebastian is seen searching for his mother. What do you think his attitude toward her is? How does this differ from his attitude toward his father?
12. Many of the people in this book are hiding dangerous secrets. How do their secrets-and their reasons for keeping them—differ?
13. In addition to the main plot—the search for the killer—this book has an important subplot involving Kat and Jarvis. How are these two threads linked, and what do they both tell us about the repercussions of secrets and lies?
14. The main character of this series, Sebastian St. Cyr, grows and changes with each book. What effect do the events of Why Mermaids Sing have on the young viscount?
Now for the Fun Questions...
1. Would you like to have lived in the Regency period? Why or why not? As a man or a woman?
2. What was better back then? What was worse?
3. Does it harm a country to have a lame-brained head of state and corrupt officials running it? [Note: I'm referring to Regency England here!]
4. In what ways does the Regency period remind you of our own period? Possible areas to explore: empire building, a long war with a demonized enemy, evangelicalism, hairstyles, fashion, gambling, an ever-widening gulf between the very rich and the very poor, drinking... Go for it!
5. In what ways does Sebastian thumb his nose at conventional society and in what ways does he go along with the crowd? What repercussions do his choices have on him and on his family? How do these repercussions compare with those for nonconformity in modern society?
6. Hero also thwarts convention. How do her reasons and the consequences differ from Sebastian's?
7. It wasn't easy investigating murder in the days before CSI—but in some ways it's more fun to read about. Compare Sebastian's investigative techniques with one of your favorite twenty-first century investigators. Or how about comparing him with a medieval investigator?
8. If you were Kat, would you have agreed to marry Sebastian? Why or why not?
9. How would you react if you found a partially butchered body with the severed hoof of a goat in its mouth? Compare and contrast your reaction with Sebastian's.
10. Do you think Sebastian would have fulfilled the role his father and society expect of him if Kat hadn't entered in his life?
11. How would you feel if you discovered you were sleeping with your sister?
12. You have been given the assignment of casting Why Mermaids Sing for the big screen! Who do you see as Sebastian? Kat? Jarvis?
13. By the end of this book, Sebastian's personal life is in tatters. What do you think will happen next?
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