Mortedant’s Peril by R.J. Barker – Review

Published: May 19, 2026

Publisher: Tor Books

Series: The Trials of Irody Hasp #1

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

Pages: 432 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

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

Synopsis:
In a city of ancient automata, strange spirits, and sleeping gods, a cleric of death finds his own life on the line in this vividly imagined fantasy murder mystery from the acclaimed author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins.

Irody Hasp is a Mortedant, a cleric tasked with reading the last thoughts of the dead—though no one thanks him for it. No Mortedant is popular, but Irody is scarcely tolerated even by the other members of his own guild, and rarely selected for anything but the lowliest of jobs.

This impoverished existence would be dismal enough—but after reading the corpse of a low-level records keeper, Irody’s troubles quickly multiply when his own apprentice is murdered, and all fingers point to him as a suspect. The only way to save his own skin is to find the real culprit himself, an investigation that quickly attracts powerful enemies with few scruples, and draws him into a plot that threatens the entire corrupt yet wondrous city he calls home.

Perfect for fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora, Foundryside, and Witness for the Dead, this investigative misadventure begins a perilous new series by award-winning author RJ Barker.

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I’ve had great luck with R.J. Barker’s books that I’ve read, so naturally I was wild with anticipation when I heard about Mortedant’s Peril. If it’s got a mystery hook to it, I’ll probably read it and the comps to The Lies of Locke Lamora and Foundryside really sealed the deal. SO many of my favorite things wrapped up into one! 

This follows Irody Hasp, who is a Mortedant. Any task associated with death is an unpopular one, but Mortedant’s read the last thoughts of the dead and were previously much more prominent before law changes within the city of Elbay. This might be in regard to something as mundane as a will, but sometimes it could be related to something much more exciting and dangerous – murder. Irody takes on a job in one of the low tiers, which seems straightforward and not very lucrative. A records keeper has died and his widow thinks he had come into some money, which she very much needs, but all Irody hears from the dead man is that the berries he was eating seem to have been off. Because of this Irody’s neophyte, Malkin, is murdered and now he’s the primary suspect. In order to escape his own execution in three days’ time, Irody must find out who actually killed Malkin and uncover what plot led to all this drama in the first place.

Irody starts out as a fairly unlikable character, though he is fortunately very interesting. Like, I get why the other Mortedant’s don’t like him because he’s prickly and thinks he’s better than them. Despite the fact that he is, that obviously doesn’t go over well. The secondary characters really shine and without them Irody would have been dead shortly after the investigation began. His bodyguard, Whisper, is a non-human that I kept picturing as a shark in armor. She is of the sea people and they often work as bodyguards in other cities. Then there’s Mirial, Malkin’s sister, who insists that she will now be Irody’s neophyte. Mirial is from the lowest tier in the city and is familiar with the criminal elements and the secret pathways within the tiers. She and Whisper are brave and immediately likable, whereas Irody kind of grows on you as the story progresses.

I ended up rather enjoying this and I liked the variety of non-human characters and the strangeness of Elbay. The world felt rich and full of life without the story spending too many pages on detailing things out. Since the story is largely limited to the city itself, there’s plenty of room for further exploration of other cities in future books. There are many religious groups within the Worshipful and there’s another guild group called the Spurriers that create wonders from the spirits of slain animals. While Mortedan’t Peril didn’t end up being a 5 star read, it was engaging and had a good mystery