Kalanon’s Rising was one of the finalists of SPFBO 2019, and the premise of magical murders mystery caught my eye. What to expect The murder of the king’s nephew (and presumptive heir) is guaranteed to draw attention. The King’s Champion, a current physician and previous war leader, is tasked with finding the murderer and resolving […]
Murder mystery
Book Review: The Society of Two Houses, by William C. Tracy
Good things lie off the beaten path, and this book is one of them. It’s a short, twisty mystery set in a fantastical, unique world. What to expect This is a standalone novella in an ongoing series. Tracy does an amazing job of creating a unique world, with different alien species, a rich psychic-like magic […]
Book Review: Memento Mori, by Ruth Downie
This is probably my most-favourite Roman-era mystery series. I have previously interviewed both protagonists and was proud to be a part of the global launch of Memento Mori (you can read the first chapter here on my blog). So the short version is: unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it very much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much […]
Excerpt: Memento Mori, by Ruth Downie
I’ve raved in the past about Ruth Downie’s excellent Medicus series. I’ve interviewed her protagonist Ruso, and at the end of the month we’ll be publishing a highly-entertaining interview with his wife Tilla on The Protagonist Speaks (I suggest you subscribe to that blog so you don’t miss it – the interview is delicious!). It […]
Book Series Review: Medicus Roman Mysteries, by Ruth S. Downie
I strikes me that while I have mentioned Ruth Downie‘s writing before, have interviewed her protagonist Gaius Petreius Ruso, and have even used him for a guest appearance – with permission! – in In Numina, I have never actually wrote a full review of her books. I’ve read the first two books a couple of years […]
Book Review: Dying to be Roman, by E.M. Swift-Hook and Jane Jago
In case you missed it (it’s easy, I know), I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to ancient Rome and alternate histories. Yeah, who would have thunk it. So I was really excited to get my hands on this new addition to the field. I was not disappointed. What to Expect Imagine that […]
Historical Facts as Inspiration for Fantasy
As part of Virtual FantasyCon (that awesome event where Murder In Absentia received an unprecedented five awards ;-), we did a blog hunt. As an introduction to this site, I did a post about the historical inspirations behind the fantasy lighthouse of Egretia. This post was originally published on L.D. Rose‘s site, and is replicated […]
Felix Speaking for Himself
As part of Virtual FantasyCon (that awesome event where Murder In Absentia received an unprecedented five awards ;-), we did a blog hunt. Since I ran two blogs, I participated twice – and gave Felix a chance to speak for himself in one. Of course, the bastard went ahead and started to curse me for […]
The effects of not enough coffee
As any one who had ever had to deal with with writers and authors knows, coffee is our life’s blood. We need it to function, to wake up the muses. And, again as anyone who’ve met and read blogs about indie authors know, we also tend to interview each other, challenge each other, and generally […]
Giveaway! Free signed Copy!
Hi guys, I’m running a giveaway on Goodreads for Murder in-absentia! Enter for a chance to win a free signed copy of the most exciting fantasy murder mystery (with an historical bent and a splash of horror) released this year! Go here to enter: www.goodreads.com/book/show/26867372-murder-in-absentia Winners will be announced on Jan 1st – […]