A divided nation. Four Queens. A ruthless pickpocket. A noble messenger. And the murders that unite them.
Get in quick, get out quicker.
These are the words Keralie Corrington lives by as the preeminent dipper in the Concord, the central area uniting the four quadrants of Quadara. She steals under the guidance of her mentor Mackiel, who runs a black market selling their bounty to buyers desperate for what they can’t get in their own quarter. For in the nation of Quadara, each quarter is strictly divided from the other. Four queens rule together, one from each region:
Toria: the intellectual quarter that values education and ambition
Ludia: the pleasure quarter that values celebration, passion, and entertainment
Archia: the agricultural quarter that values simplicity and nature
Eonia: the futurist quarter that values technology, stoicism and harmonious community
When Keralie intercepts a comm disk coming from the House of Concord, what seems like a standard job goes horribly wrong. Upon watching the comm disks, Keralie sees all four queens murdered in four brutal ways. Hoping that discovering the intended recipient will reveal the culprit – information that is bound to be valuable bartering material with the palace – Keralie teams up with Varin Bollt, the Eonist messenger she stole from, to complete Varin’s original job and see where it takes them.
Jan’s Review
This is a very different type of fantasy then what i read in the past. We are immersed in a murder mystery centered around four dead queens which are the four rulers of Quadra. The set up for each of the four Quandrants reminded me of the factions in Divergent where each one has a certain quality they hold true to. As we move along our story is told from Keralie perspective as she is a dipper (basically a thief) and she ends up with the key to how each of the queens are murdered. What i was expecting as i went into this book was for all the queens to be dead all ready but that not the case. The books switches between a queen chapter and a chapter from Keralie where we get a new piece of information and more world building. The way the story was written i was able to easily read this in about 3-4 days. I really love when a story gets me hooked and gives me details enough to make me keep guessing. Since their was the element of murder mystery i kept playing the role of detective trying to determine who did it. Their was also a few other delightful surprises along the way. This was a great debute for this author as far as i can tell this is a stand alone but their is room for the story to expand,
