A Parliament of Bodies
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15
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Average rating2
Mixing high fantasy and mystery, the third book in the Maradaine Constabulary series follows Inspectors Satrine Rainey and Minox Welling as they track down a dangerous murderer. The city of Maradaine is vexed by the Gearbox Murders: a series of gruesome deaths orchestrated by a twisted mechanical genius. With no motive and no pattern, Inspectors Satrine Rainey and Minox Welling--the retired spy and untrained mage--are at a loss to find a meaningful lead in the case. At least, until the killer makes his most audacious exhibit yet: over a dozen victims in a clockwork deathtrap on the floor of the Druth Parliament. The crime scene is a madhouse, and political forces conspire to grind their investigation to a halt. The King's Marshals claim jurisdiction of the case, corruption in the Constabulary thwarts their efforts, and a special Inquest threatens to end Minox's career completely. Their only ally is Dayne Heldrin, a provisional member of the Tarian Order, elite warriors trained in the art of protection. But Dayne's connection to the Gearbox Murders casts suspicion on his motives, as he might be obsessed with a phantom figure he believes is responsible. While Satrine and Minox struggle to stop the Gearbox from claiming even more victims, the grinding gears of injustice might keep them from ever solving these murders, and threaten to dismantle their partnership forever.
Reviews with the most likes.
I have mixed feelings about this novel.
On the one hand, it's exciting and gripping, a page-turner. I like the characters, and I quite like the scenario, which has depth. The plot is complex and ingenious.
On the other hand, there are various aspects of the book that I don't like so much:
1. Maresca has a taste for bizarre and implausible crimes, whereas I'd prefer something more credible. The star criminal of this story is implausible to the point of surrealism, which annoys me.
2. Magic is in use in this story. I have no objection to magic, but I like it to have well-established limitations and rules of operation, and here it seems to have none, except that the use of magic makes mages tired and hungry.
3. The heroes of this series (Welling and Rainey) are like rubber dolls, they keep bouncing back. Every day they have a horrible level of mental and physical stress, often getting knocked about and wounded; but they keep coming back for more, as though nothing had happened. I feel exhausted and battered on their behalf. Humans can put up with a lot if necessary, but in reality I think their mental and physical performance would be degraded, and I see little sign of it.
4. I was shocked to get to the end of this quite long novel (400 pages in paperback) and find everything about the situation unresolved. To find out what happened, we have to buy another book, which isn't available yet. Readers deserve some warning of this, which I'm providing here.
Overall, I think the author has talent, but I wish he'd use it in a way that was more to my taste!
Series
3 primary booksThe Maradaine Constabulary is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Marshall Ryan Maresca.
Series
12 primary books13 released booksMaradaine Sequence is a 13-book series with 12 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Marshall Ryan Maresca.
