The Lilac. The bard songs say that sheтАЩs the worldтАЩs most fearsome bounty hunter. That thereтАЩs no criminal she canтАЩt catch, no mystery she canтАЩt solve.
None of that is true. Yet.
In reality, the Lilac is just a kid, and the bard who wrote all that is her best friend, Dulcinetta. But the Lilac has set her goals on becoming the best bounty hunter in the Thirteen KingdomsтАФand when a priceless artifact goes missing from the home of famed monster hunter Baron Angbar, the Lilac and Netta are eager to apprehend the thief and make a name for themselves.
But when their investigation brings them to a dinner party at Castle Angbar, and they meet the Angbar family and their servants and guestsтАФan unsavory group of nobles, mages, and assorted creatures, each more shady than the lastтАФthe Lilac begins to wonder if the reward is worth the trouble.
And thatтАЩs before the dead body is discovered.
Now, everyone is magically sealed inside the castleтАФand there is a murderer among them. If the Lilac wants to make it out with her reputation intact, itтАЩs going to be up to her to figure out who the killer is.┬аBut everyone in the castleтАФeven the Lilac herselfтАФhas secrets to hide, and as the walls literally start to close in around them, the Lilac worries that her first job as a bounty hunter may be her lastтАж
Christopher Healy is the author of No One Leaves the Castle as well as the HeroтАЩs Guide series, whose first book, The HeroтАЩs Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, was a New York Times Book Review EditorтАЩs Choice. Before becoming a writer, he worked as an actor, an ad copywriter, a toy store display designer, a fact-checker, a dishwasher, a journalist, a costume shop clothing stitcher, a childrenтАЩs entertainment reviewer, and a haunted house zombie. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and a dog named Duncan. You can visit him online at christopherhealy.com.