Booklog 42/2019 - Wendy Trimboli & Alicia Zaloga: The Resurrectionist of Caligo

[jacey]

Science versus magic, and political shenanigans in a Gothic/Victorianesque setting. Roger Weathersby, a man of science, is the son of a palace servant who grew up with Princess Sibylla, magical granddaughter of the current queen. (The royals all have magic of one sort or another.) He wants to be a doctor, but has never been able to afford the tuition fees, so he learns what he can, when he can, and in the meantime ekes out a poor living as a bodysnatcher in the city of Caligo, digging up corpses to sell to medical schools, and also doing the occasional dissection. There's a murderer (a strangler) on the loose in the city and when Roger digs up a disturbing corpse, he realises that not all is as it seems with the victims. Strangulation is not the primary cause of death. Determined to find the killer, he's soon in over his head.

Sibylla fell in love with Roger when she was a girl, but after he took a payoff from her family to get out of her life, they have lost touch. She still remembers him as her first love, but is bitter and the manner of his leaving. She's desperately trying to avoid marrying her wimpy cousin in order to strengthen the magical royal line, so she's been sidelined for a couple of years in the care of a naval officer who is actually Roger's half-brother. She's summoned back to court to impress the Emperor of a powerful neighbouring country. There's court intrigue and magical goings on combined with a murder-mystery

Pros and cons. Pros first. Intriguing story, engaging characters, interesting worldbuilding. Cons, a bit of a slow start, but stick with it. I wish the name of the country, Myrcnia, was pronounceable. There's a family connection which is deliberately withheld by the author (long after the reader has worked it out) even though one of the viewpoint characters knows it all along. I'm not sure the information needs to be kept from the reader.

I enjoyed this, though I'm not sure what the future looks like for our main protagonists. There's no indication that there will be a sequel.

Due for release in September 2019. ARC via Netgally