Anyone who's been enjoying Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric novellas will probably fall into T. Kingfisher's Clocktaur world with delight and a strong feeling of familiarity. And anyone who hasn't read both should probably do so ASAP! T. Kingfisher is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors for light, readable fantasy with likeable characters and a bit of romance on the side.

I had assumed this was a sequel to Swordheart, but although it's set in the same world, and also features paladins and servants of the White Rat god, it actually features an entirely different set of paladins, plus one master perfumer who manages to get tangled up in some complicated murder plotting and a lot of severed heads.

The world remains delightful; not enough gnoles in this book but a few appearances. More about the wonderful worshippers of the White Rat, including a heroic defense by a Solicitor Sacrosanct of the temple (unlike the other gods, the White Rat has lawyers rather than paladins).

T. Kingfisher's writing style is light and enjoyable and often humourous:
"Look, if you can't laugh about the homicidal fits that make you a menace to society, what's even the point?"
"He's a paladin," said Marguerite. "They only have a couple of emotions and the primary one is guilt."
"Paladin Stephen likes you," said Zale, "And anyone that keeps our paladins happy, instead of moping and clanking and suffering nobly around the temple, is worth fighting for."

Kingfisher also does an excellent job without making a big deal of it at all in representing important things like,
- Asking and giving consent in romantic contexts
- Sincerely apologizing
- Making occasional nonbinary characters without even ever mentioning it except for using the "they" pronoun

Also, she clearly has a bit of a thing for flawed paladins and middle-aged, divorced or widowed heroines, which I am 100% on board with.

Can't wait for the sequel both to this, and to Swordheart, and many more!