"A breathtaking romp of a plot, prose as sparkling and luxuriant as a diamond sautoir, and at the heart of it all a sense of wondrous possibility."—The New York Times
Now an International Bestseller, a New York Times Editors' Choice Pick, an Indie Next pick, a Bookpage Best Book of the Year, and a LibraryReads pick—with three starred reviews!
A Restless Truth is the second entry in Freya Marske's beloved, award-winning Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light.
Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance!
Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady's companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago.
What she didn't expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who's also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can't help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal.
Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they've both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for—without ending up dead in the water themselves.
The Last Binding Trilogy:
A Marvellous Light
A Restless Truth
A Power Unbound
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
November 1, 2022 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781250788931
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781250788931
- File size: 5115 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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June 1, 2022
Hopping aboard an ocean liner as an older lady's companion to help her older brother crack a generations-old magical conspiracy, Maud Blyth must deal with both the woman's death and a powerful attraction to scandalous passenger Violet Debenham, an actress and magician. Following up the multi-best-booked A Marvellous Light, winner of the Romantic Novel Award in Fantasy; a 100,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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August 1, 2022
Maud Blyth takes center stage in the charming follow-up to her brother Robin’s story, A Marvellous Light—and thereby creates a conundrum, because nothing in that book renders plausible the notion of Robin sending his 19-year-old sister, alone and undercover, across the ocean to foil a plot laid by known murderers. Yet there she is on a 1909 White Star ocean liner, acting as companion to elderly magician Elizabeth Navenby, when Mrs. Navenby is murdered. Now Maud must determine whether the killer also stole a potentially world-altering magical artifact. With a combination of brains, instinct, and charm, she enlists the help of Violet Debenham, another magical Englishwoman aboard, who ran away to America and is sailing home now to claim an unexpected inheritance. Violet is 23, outrageous, and openly bisexual, presenting Maud with quite a different set of urgent questions as romance blooms. Marske writes with tremendous period detail and—to use a period term—incident, but without quite the drama or tension of a true suspense novel. This is a cozy mystery at heart, with a sprinkle of romance and magic—and some plot gaps to be sure, but not enough to spoil the fun. It makes for intelligent and pleasant reading over a cup of tea. -
Starred review from September 1, 2022
There's murder, mystery, and magic on the high seas in Marske's historical fantasy romp that follows on the heels of last year's A Marvellous Light. The truth that Maud Blyth finds aboard the RMS Lyric is that her life can be just as sinfully dangerous and daring as her brother Robin's as she teams up with a beautiful actress, a conniving salesman, a scandalous aristocrat, and a profane parrot. Their mission? Ferret out which of the ship's many passengers is a magician hell-bent on enslaving all of England's magical community and forcing them to fight on England's side during the coming war. Maud starts out just wanting to help her brother, but as she's chased through the ship by mages, scandals, and an entire menagerie of shipboard animals, she finds both the love she's always denied as well as the true measure of all her surprising talents. The champagne-soaked alternate Edwardian universe of "The Last Binding" series is expanded by Marske's setting this second chapter aboard a ship where everyone seems to be hiding behind a mask of their own making. VERDICT Highly recommended for lovers of urban fantasy that's mixed with wit, danger, and romance.--Marlene Harris
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Starred review from September 1, 2022
Marske continues the quest for the pieces of the Last Contract in this fantasy/historical romance with a murder-mystery backdrop. Maud, the inquisitive and resolute younger sister of Robin, the protagonist from A Marvellous Light (2021), finds herself trapped on an ocean liner with a magician turned murderer. She was tasked with bringing Mrs. Navenby, a member of the Forsythia Club and keeper of the second piece of the Last Contract, back to England; but when she finds her companion dead and her room ransacked, she must team up with spirited illusionist Violet and the brooding but lovable Hawthorn to recover the stolen items. In a refreshing approach, Marske continues the beloved journey from the first book with an almost entirely new cast of characters and a new hot-and-steamy queer romance. Maud and Violet are attracted to each other early on; their relationship reforms the ing�nue-falling-for-the-experienced-cad trope with feminist flare and a sex-positive attitude. Marske keeps the tone light with humorous antics like a staged s�ance and a particularly funny scene where the group reads erotica out loud to each other. She also coats the story with new magical insights and charming whimsy. Fans will be delighted.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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