Review: Mortedant's Peril (The Trials of Irody Hasp #1) by R.J. Barker

Synopsis

Irody can speak to the dead.
But the living want him silenced.

Mortedants can speak to the dead, and Irody Hasp is the greatest of them. Not that they’ll admit it. Or that anyone actually likes the Mortedants, in particular Irody. Nonetheless, Elbay is a city of tradition and it calls for Mortedants to attend a death. But when Irody reads a clerk’s corpse, he uncovers a vast conspiracy which sees him framed for the murder of those closest to him.

Soon, his execution is only days away. With the eyes of Elbay’s nobles, guilds, and villains all turned his way, Irody must work with unwanted allies: a street urchin and a hulking, inhuman mercenary. With danger lurking and trust a luxury, Irody must save himself, his friends and Elbay – the terrifying, complicated city he loves. Or the darkness that has fallen on him will come for them all.

Review

A fun, inventive, and witty fantasy murder mystery set in the city of Elbay, where Irody Hasp, a cleric who talks to the dead (a Mortedant), is framed for the murder of his own apprentice.
To save himself from execution, Irody must uncover a conspiracy with the help of a snarky street girl and a non-human, Sea People mercenary.

For fans of The Hexologists, The Tainted Cup, and Foundryside.

An unpopular talker-to-the-dead; a chatty, street-smart urchin; and an honourable, scary guard. I hear misfit crew of found family.

RJ Barker is an author who has a wild imagination and can build such an exciting and immersive world, rich with innovation and secrets to unravel.

‘And we are not judged by what we must do’ –the low growl of her voice filled the room –‘but by what we choose to do.’

Like his other books, the pacing is odd and will keep you guessing.

I struggled to visualise the city of Elbay as vividly as I was able to with Barker’s The Tide Child and Wyrdwood, but, like Barker’s author’s note says, this is a fun book he wrote in a hard time that gave him a way to escape.

This book can stand by itself satisfyingly, but this is the start of a series. Think The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft.