This is a fantasy mystery, first in a series of 5 and written in 1994. Liam Rhenford, a wandering scholar, is stalled in Taralon trying to write a book. He finds his only friend, the wizard Tarquin, stabbed to death. Fanuilh, the tiny dragon who is the wizard's familiar, manages to bond with Rhenford in a desperate attempt to save his (Fanuilh's) life. Fanuilh then extracts a promise from Rhenford to find the killer, which leads Rhenford into an cooperative relationship with the local Aedile (sheriff).
I read this first when it was published, liked it enough to keep the series, but I found it a lot slower moving the second time around. After the relationship between Fanuilh and Rhenford is established, there's not much magic going on - Rhenford gets his initial suspect list from the dragon, but the investigation is done via old-fashioned questioning and footwork. It sure takes Rhenford a long time to twig to an obvious clue. But Rhenford is likable and so is the Aedile, although there's not much to the other characters. Fanuilh himself doesn't play much part either until the very end, which is too bad, he's easily the most interesting. The world-building is fairly ordinary: Taralon is a port town, there's a religious ceremony described, it's at the horse-and-cart technology level.
If you like the fantasy/mystery crossover genre, this is worth a look.
I read this first when it was published, liked it enough to keep the series, but I found it a lot slower moving the second time around. After the relationship between Fanuilh and Rhenford is established, there's not much magic going on - Rhenford gets his initial suspect list from the dragon, but the investigation is done via old-fashioned questioning and footwork. It sure takes Rhenford a long time to twig to an obvious clue. But Rhenford is likable and so is the Aedile, although there's not much to the other characters. Fanuilh himself doesn't play much part either until the very end, which is too bad, he's easily the most interesting. The world-building is fairly ordinary: Taralon is a port town, there's a religious ceremony described, it's at the horse-and-cart technology level.
If you like the fantasy/mystery crossover genre, this is worth a look.
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