I’ve been reading Keith R.A. DeCandido’s reviews on Tor dot com for years and I’ve loved them. His Trek rewatches and superhero reviews are excellent. So when I saw one of his novels on NetGalley I was curious to see what his fiction was like. The answer: not bad? It’s a police procedural in a generic D&D-esque fantasy kingdom. The mystery is cookie cutter, the characters interchangeable- and the plot by the numbers. But the writing is adequate and it was a pleasant way to pass the time.

Keith R.A. DeCandido has a new police procedural set in a world of magic in the Phoenix Precinct (paper from eSpec Books) Someone is attacking the new refugees from the nearby city of Barlin which was destroyed by fire. A murder makes it more important to calm the situation, especially since it turns out the the victim was killed by mistake, fun.

When I find a book I love and discover it's part of a series I usually say something like AHIA because I willl surely want to read the series.
This is one of those book: entertaining, gripping, fascinating world building and good storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Very different! Enjoyed a the fantasy murder mystery and would recommend!! Tha KS to Netgalley and Keith

I love this series! Somehow I missed seeing the Mermaid Precinct come out but I own the rest of the books. If I’d seen the crowd funding for it I’d have thrown some money at this book with enthusiasm. As is I’ll have to wait for Powell’s to have this and the Mermaid Precinct and complete my set.
It’s several books into the series so I wouldn’t recommend starting with this one but I do recommend the series if you like fantasy with a detailed setting that isn’t too heavy a read, The series I’d most compare it to is the Maradaine books by Marshall Ryan Maresca because they’re both set in a confined setting of a city where the author takes the time to flesh the world out with interesting characters. This series is more focused because it’s about the city guard only but they both give me the impression the author just really wants to see the reader have a good time. Despite having missed a book I was able to follow the story easily and I look forward to my reread once I get my hands on a physical copy and a copy of the book I missed buying. I’m grateful I got a chance to read the ARC. I may have squeed just a little when I saw the chance to ask to read it…. Thanks NetGalley and publisher!

I'm so glad the Precinct series continued, I had enjoyed the previous entries in the series and from Keith R.A. DeCandido. Keith R.A. DeCandido always has interesting stories and I was hooked from the first book. This had the magic that I enjoyed from the series and enjoyed how well the characters were written. It left me excited to read more from Keith R.A. DeCandido.

“I think Wirrn an’ some’a his guard buddies’re usin’ this as an excuse to make some extra coin. Everyone’s all worried with all the refugees, an’ ’specially with all the attacks on ’em.” Dru took a breath. “If they ain’t sanctioned by the castle, then I’d like your lordship’s permission to shut ’em down.”