LOST COVENANT

Poor Widdershins: The further she runs the worse things get.

After the tragic events at the end of her last major adventure (False Covenant, 2012), Widdershins and her unsanctioned god, Olgun, took off. But shady characters are looking for her, the church might want to use her, and then it turns out someone is killing off her deceased guardian’s noble family. In an effort to repay the debt she owes Alexandre Delacroix (and perhaps to atone for running off on others who needed her), Widdershins heads to the Outer Hespelene to save the last branch of the Delacroix family, a large clan with a fearsome matriarch and a whole lot of stubborn descendants, plus one scion who turns out to be a decent sidekick. The usual quips, near escapes and breakneck action scenes ensue, intercut with some disturbing goings-on back home in Davillon. Marmell’s writing has tightened considerably but stayed colorful (“…some resemblance to a drunken beetle trying to scale an icicle…”), giving fans everything they want in a Shins story while avoiding most of the lapses into florid overwriting. Two unfinished threads—unrest in the church and the return of two old foes—leave plenty of room for more more more.

Start with Book 1 and just keep going.