Guardian

Anglet Sutonga must save a city pushed to the brink in Hartley's pulse-pounding fantasy mystery series that Cory Doctorow praises for its "richly realized world"

The city of Bar-Selehm is tossed into a whirlwind of scandal when the prime minister is found dead on the floors of Parliament: and Anglet Sutonga's friend and employer, Josiah Willinghouse, is the one holding the knife.

Determined to prove his innocence, Ang investigates leads throughout the city, only to discover even more chaos wherever she goes. A mysterious but fatal illness is infecting the poor. A fanatical politician seizes power, and rolls out his plans to make Bar-Selehm great again.

Amidst these surrounding dangers, Anglet Sutonga must gather her friends from places high and low to form a resistance... and, hopefully, protect everything she knows and loves.