Damn Mr. Baldree, two home runs in a row, well done.

Viv the orc is injured during an encounter with the minions of a dreaded necromancer. Her merc group leaves her in the sleepy relaxed seaside town of Murk to recouperate. While there, she becomes engrossed in reading, makes a number of friends, and uncovers a mystery that may be connected to the necromancer her group had been hunting.

I'm honestly not sure which of his books I like more. I'm currently leaning towards Bookshops and Bonedust on account of there being books, a spooky b-plot, a wonderful cast of characters, and of course POTROAST. I realize the little half dog half owl fella was purely made to make me go "aw," but it worked.

Shout out to Pitts the orc finding his love of poetry.

If I did have any complaints, it would be that sometimes the threat of the necromancer would be super in your face one page and the next our characters are remodeling a bookstore for a clearance sale. It was just a scosh jarring for me. I also felt a bit confused at some parts. Specifically who killed that one dude? Keeping it vague for spoiler purposes. What's the deal with the sheep stealing and the sigils? I would have just liked a little more explanation of these things. These are mild complaints though and not enough for me to really want to deduct any major points.

Lots of new vocabulary that I picked up! Words like alacrity and apoplexy.

Cannot wait to see what comes next in this series. 4.5/5