Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe by Marshall Ryan Maresca – Review

Published: March 6, 2018

Publisher: DAW

Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Streets of Maradaine #2

Pages: 352 (Mass Market)

My Rating: 4.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Mixing high fantasy and urban fantasy, the second novel of the Streets of Maradaine series follows the Rynax brothers’ crew of outlaws as they attempt their biggest heist yet and restore justice to the common people.

The neighborhood of North Seleth has suffered–and not just the Holver Alley Fire. Poverty and marginalization are forcing people out of the neighborhood, and violence on the streets is getting worse. Only the Rynax brothers–Asti and Verci–and their Holver Alley Crew are fighting for the common people. They’ve taken care of the people who actually burned down Holver Alley, but they’re still looking for the moneyed interests behind the fire.

The trail of breadcrumbs leads the crew to Lord Henterman, and they plan to infiltrate the noble’s house on the other side of the city. While the crew tries to penetrate the heart of the house, the worst elements of North Seleth seem to be uniting under a mysterious new leader. With the crew’s attention divided, Asti discovers that the secrets behind the fire, including ones from his past, might be found in Lady Henterman’s wardrobe.

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The gang’s back in businessssssss! I’ve so been looking forward to reading Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe because The Holver Alley Crew was such an epic story full of all my favorite things. It had heists, betrayal, mucho action, gangs, food, geez… EVERYTHING! And guess what. This book has all those things again!

Still looking to take down those responsible for the Holver Alley fire, the Rynax brothers and their associates are lead to the home of Lord Henterman and his Lady wife. At the same time, their also trying to stave off the advances into their territory by one named Treggin who is more than a normal street tough. This book seemed to focus in on fewer characters, obviously the Rynax brothers were a big part, but Helene and Mila also played bigger roles. Many of the others were reduced to being true side characters, which helped bring in the focus and develop the four “main” characters a little more. Mila is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, with her solid street presence and ambition.

Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe had an exciting plot and I expected no less. This time around it didn’t feel as personal, perhaps because while the characters are still out for revenge, the tragedy of the fire has become somewhat distant since the first book (at least for the reader). I was really engaged with the story from the very beginning, but things really picked up when Lady Henterman appeared. I was SO surprised and I dearly wish her to die on sight next time she makes an appearance. I loved that Druth Intelligence was brought in on this one a bit and I’m looking forward to seeing if a crossover with our favorite Constabulary duo will happen because of the Druth Intelligence linkage… Yes, I realize that seems somewhat cryptic for those of you who haven’t read all the Maradaine books. That just means you should get to reading them!

Overall, this was a solid sequel, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as The Holver Alley Crew. I love starting a new series and often find that the first book in a series usually ends up being my favorite, so this could definitely just be a me thing. By all means pick up this series if it intrigues you. I love the heist atmosphere and fictional thieves and spies are some of my all-time favorite characters. Marshall Ryan Maresca has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I genuinely look forward to each and every one of his new releases.