Bones & Betrayals - Silence of the Dead by Andi Ewington and Erica Marks

I would like to thank the authors for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher- Forty-Five Limited

Published - Out now

Price - £10.99 paperback £3.99 ebook

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.

Mixing murder with fun and magic can feel a strange mix but there is a tradition in fantasy and crime with a host of wisecracking magical detectives and of course Pratchett’s Guards. Entering into this is a new series and a new detective duo to meet in the form of Bones & Betrayals - Silence of the Dead a gentle cosy fantasy mystery that while has some potential still has to find its feet.

Holdor is an unusual investigator he can speak to the dead by being virtue of also being a Necromancer. A skill the Tronte Captain of the Guard has used Holdor unwillingly for (but he gets paid) but his latest case is a true mystery. Gerwin Thale owner of the Olde Curiosity Shoppe is poisoned but also has no soul for Holdor to summon and find out who killed him. This is a tougher case than usual and also it’s clear the killer had just got started. Holdor, only helped by his friend Seymour a thief now talking skull has a race against time.

I enjoyed this read but it’s got a few issues that starting a brand new series can often show. Holdor and Seymour are interesting characters. Holdor is a Dark elf which in this world seems to mean he’s quite introverted and prone to melancholia but he is a decent person. Seymour is louder and has not left most of limbs and intestines stop him eating and stealing - just don’t ask him how. They’re likeable friends who play off one another. Lots of room for growth and as the story develops some pathos as to how each ended up where they are and possibly why they’re now good friends.

Tronte is a really infesting idea where fanatsy characters are settling down so a pie shop owner may be a high elf. The big fantasy adventures are now very tightly managed by the Heroes’ Guild (some would say rigged and used for profit) and you can find a mountain monetary focus on meditation that also knows all the ways for extreme violence. We get to explore this and mystery wise the murder and the way it’s taking place all logically come together and are engaging.

Humour wise always a subjective matter this for me was more a wry smile than full on giggling. That actually for me is quite high praise as humourous fantasy is typically one of my areas to avoid! But this may be where the cost gentle side of this story didn’t really for me get out of a low gear. The plot is perhaps a little too logical with scene, clue and then next scene and murder. I didn’t really get a sense of scale and world beyond bounds of the plot and perhaps allowing the characters to breathe and move around would have helped get some depth. Another slight big bear was the third party narration did enjoy giving backstory away. When he meet a character we get told lots of things about their character and the story could actually just have had that evolve naturally as characters interact. Holdor and Seymour’s backstory too just get expositioned and I thought that too could have been the type of revelation the characters talking to the wider cast would have helped mesh the story better.

Overall my impression was there is potential for this to find its feet now the premise is established and shouldn’t be afraid to experiment a bit more. If you want a simple fun mystery with a few laughs I think you’ll have a good time with this.