Review: Silence of the Dead, by Marks Ewington

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Murder has come to the city of Tronte…

Holtar didn’t become a necromancer for the prestige—he did it because talking to the dead is marginally easier than dealing with the living. Unfortunately, his latest case has given him a fresh problem: the corpses aren’t talking.

No last words. No cryptic riddles. Just silence. And silence, as it turns out, is very bad when your job depends on listening to the dead speak of their final moments.

With only a snarky, possessed skull called Seymour as his companion, Holtar must unravel a conspiracy that threatens both the living and the dead—one that grows more tangled, absurd, and dangerously personal with every once-bitten pastry.

Silence of the Dead is a fantasy mystery with the wit of a detective comedy—where necromancy is just another thankless job, the dead refuse to talk, and the killer has an unsettling passion for pastry-based clues.

Bones & Betrayals: Silence of the Dead is written by Erica Marks & Andi Ewington
Cover art by Calum Alexander Watt

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Buy link (sorry it’s an Amazon link, I couldn’t find it anywhere else)

My Review

This is one of the books I picked up at World FantasyCon, from the BFS members tablr, i think. I liked the way it sounded and thought I’d give it a try. I like fantasy, I like detective stories, it had a cosy feel, why not give it a go?

This is very much a play on the TTRPG genre/conventions/rules. It’s a world of heroes and wizards, adventurers and necromancers, mysterious monks and long journeys that take an improbably short time to complete.

I enjoyed the characters and the story; Holtar and Seymour have a solid friendship, built on years of trust and getting killed. They don’t have much direction and they’re both still dealing with the guilt of their pasts. Over the course of investigating an ever increasing number of murders, getting high with mountain monks, and meeting new friends, they discover a new path for themselves and forgive themselves.

I did struggle with the writing style a little; occasionally the authors went a bit over the top, from a fond and cosy homage to the sword & sorcery/D&D genres to overwrought satire.