Irody can speak to the dead.
But the living want him silenced.

Mortedants can speak to the dead –­ and Irody Hasp is the greatest of them. Not that they’ll admit it. And not that anyone actually likes the Mortedants, or Irody in particular.

Nonetheless, Elbay is a city of tradition, and tradition calls for Mortedants to attend a death. But when Irody reads the corpse of a low-level worker, he’s dragged into a conspiracy that will see those closest to him murdered and Irody framed for the crime, the eyes of the city’s guilds, nobles and villains all fixed on him.

With only days to prove his innocence before his execution, Irody is forced to work with unlikely and unwanted allies: a street urchin and a hulking, inhuman mercenary from the sea people’s city of Oknosuka. With danger and death lurking round every corner, and trust a luxury, Irody is running out of time. He must save himself and his friends as well as Elbay – the magnificent, terrifying, complicated city that he loves. Or darkness will fall on them all.

Praise for RJ Barker

‘Brilliant’
– Robin Hobb, author of Assassin's Apprentice

‘A gifted storyteller’
– Nicholas Eames, author of King's of the Wild

‘A splendid fantasy work . . . Highly recommended’
– Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time