An excellent mystery

[Maria Gromova]

Perhaps it is not the place for this, but I want to share my admiration of
an excellent fantasy-mystery series, the Liam Rhenford novels by Daniel
Hood, about Quaestor Liam Rhenford and his familiar, dog-size dragon
Fanuilh. The series begins with poor young scholar Liam Rhenford, a bit of a
rolling stone, coming to the rich seaside merchant town of Southwark after a
time of absense and going to visit his old friend, powerful wizard Tarquin
Tanaquil, only to find Tarquin with a dagger in his heart. Tarquin's
familiar, little dragon Fanuilh, was magically bound to Tarquin and would
die if he couldn't find himself a new master, so Fanuilh bound himself to
Liam as his familiar. He then asked Liam to find Tarquin's murderer, and
Liam began to investigate. Coeccias, the Aedile (Sheriff) of Southwark, a
honest, straighforward man, helped Liam very much, but at some point Liam
himself became the main suspect in Coeccias's eyes, for it turned out that
Tarquin made a will and left all his property, his nice house near the town
including, to Liam. Liam managed to persuade Coeccias that he knew nothing
of the will, and, with Fanuilh's help, he found Tarquin's murderess.
Somewhere in the course of the investigation Liam found he is being called
Quaestor (investigator in Latin, sometning like a Deputy Sheriff). So, when
all this was over, Liam settled down as a house-owner and the Quaestor of
Southwark, but, to his annoyance, all the town of Southwark now considered
him a wizard, with Tarquin's magic house and Fanuilh and all. Liam knew so
little of magic that he couldn't, as a honest man, to call himself a wizard,
but all the town was impossible to dissuade, of course, everyone who saw him
with Fanuilh thought him a powerful wizard, and Liam sometimes used that to
influence an uncooperative suspect. Though Liam wasn't a wizard, he was a
very intelligent and brave, even daredevil, young man, and he had Fanuilh to
help and defend him - Fanuilh was brave, loyal and intelligent, could do
simple but effective spells, such as to light a fire or to make someone fall
asleep, and of course he had claws, fangs and wings as well. They became
greatly attached to each other and solved many mysteries together.
Maria