VERITY GUILD

In Corland’s fantasy novel, a priestess conceals her heritage as the last member of a royal magical bloodline.

On the night of the Revelry—a celebration that commemorates the end of “the monarchy and the Hundred Year War”—Kerasea Vestal, the High Priestess of the Temple of Truth, receives a “mal omen” (a kind of sacrificed bird), the first of its kind in decades. Kera reports it to the Council immediately. The festivities continue; the following morning, the dismembered body of conniving senate leader Verhardt is found on the altar of peace. When Praetorian and Senior Investigator and Protector Torren Morvane, who blames Kera for his family’s ruin, arrives to investigate, he struggles not to let his painful past cloud his judgment of Kera. Since the land is on the edge of war, Torren suspects the murder was intended to “affect the laws [and…] to strike at the heart of the republic.” He and Kera serve on the Verity Guild, the highest tribunal in the land of Pryor, and must sequester themselves for the following week in conclave on Mount Ara with the remaining senators (following Verhardt’s death, there are now six). As tensions rise politically and interpersonally, it becomes clear that someone is picking members of the ruling party off one by one. The pair’s uneasy alliance must hold, with Kera now in the crosshairs, since the “temple holds nearly as much power as the senate.” The first-person narration alternates between Kera and Torren, whose simultaneous attraction to and suspicion of each other makes for a compelling reading experience. The book’s setting—a palace overlooking the capital—is perfect for its political mystery, as it’s both opulent and the site of bloody history. Corland’s skillful blending of these elements brings the ruthlessness of the Republic’s founding and its Machiavellian senators to vivid life while deftly emphasizing the underlying theme of appearances versus reality.

An engrossing murder mystery that will intrigue even readers from beyond the romantasy genre’s fan base.