There's power in stories.
But power can be deadly.
Detective Cora Gorderheim is a detective no longer. Stripped of her badge by the corrupt chief inspector, Cora's job now is to protect her sister, Ruth, the new Wayward storyteller.
Ruth must tell her tale of the Tear widening if people are to know the truth of what's happening in the Union of Realms. But Lowlander Chambers Morton wants the Wayward to change their election story, and will stop at nothing to achieve this - including murder.
Keeping Ruth alive in Fenest is hard enough, but when the sisters set sail for West Perlanse the dangers come thick and fast. And slowly Cora realises she must make a terrible choice: her sister's life, or the future of the Union.
'Melding noir with the fantasy genre, this is a rather clever read, one which feels especially prescient for our reality' SCIFINOW
2021 Head of Zeus
The second book in the Tales of Fenest trilogy.
There's power in stories. And power comes at a price. Detective Cora Gorderheim has found the man who strangled the Wayward storyteller. But he was just a small part of a much bigger tale. Someone powerful ordered a murder on Cora's patch. That someone still lurks in the shadows. But as she continues her investigations, Cora is warned not to pry into the great and the good of Fenest. Too stubborn to know better, Cora keeps digging and begins to piece together a conspiracy that reaches from the gutter dwellers of the Union of Realms right to the top: the Chambers. As the Audience hear the Torn and Perlish tales, Cora realises she must return to her own story, to its very beginning, if she's going to have any say in its end.
"It's rare to find such a richly imagined world about the art of myth and storytelling" CHRISTOPHER FOWLER.
"Like a Philip Pullman rendition of Cloud Atlas. Widow's Welcome is an irresistibly thrilling introduction to a world of stories within stories - and I can't wait for more" TIM MAJOR.
"There is more than meets the eye in this gripping and inventive debut ... Rife with intrigue, deceit and cultural tension" JAMES AITCHESON.
"An utterly absorbing tale set in a fascinating world. A terrific start to the series" MICK FINLAY.
"If you love storytelling, you'll love this" SIMON MORDEN.
There's power in stories and this is a story of power.
Dead bodies aren't unusual in the alleyways of Fenest. Muggings, brawls gone bad, debts collected - Detective Cora Gorderheim has seen it all. Until she finds a Wayward man with his mouth sewn shut. As Cora pieces together the dead man's story, she's drawn into the most dangerous story in the Union of Realms: the election. All she wants is to catch the killer, but nothing is that simple in an election year. Dark forces conspire against the Union and soon she finds herself at the rotten core of it all. Cora will find the killer, but at what cost?
