Genre: Fantasy
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Maryann
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About The Book
Magic, murder and danger in Astreiant.
Rumors are swirling among the boatmen that the Riverdeme, the ancient spirit of the river, once bound by the magic of the city’s bridges, is back and hunting handsome young men.
The broadsheets are full of dire predictions and Adjunct Point Nicolas Rathe has been handed a case that involves a murdered tea trader, a death that implicates a prominent merchant family in the crime.
Philip Eslingen, now a captain in the City Guard, is assigned to assist him in navigating city politics and rivalry between the Points stations, as well as finding the killer. But there are tales from the riverside about extortion and violence and one murder follows another. Philip’s stars are bad for water and the Riverdeme is on the prowl…
The Review
Phillip Enslingen is now Captain of Prince-Marshall Coindarel’s new City Guard. He’s a man who dresses in a uniform to impress. He thinks Nicolas Rathe should dress to impress too, since he is now the Adjunct Point of Dreams, second in command. But Rathe has no worries about that. But for Enslingen, dressed to impress, isn’t working for him. It seems his planets were out of alignment and the moon is in the dolphin – water is not his friend, as he keeps getting soaked.
Enslingen is not only ironing his shirt, but today he’s ironing out the broadsheet for Rathe to look over the seal for legitimacy, and for him to read the tale of the curse of the ugly dogfish, which had been seen recently even though it has been extinct for centuries. Rathe doesn’t have to deal with this as the Point of Sighs, Graves and Customs are responsible for the docks on the southern bank. As he explains to Eslingen, it involves a handmaid of the river spirit, the spirit of Sier called Riverdeme. She was known to take drowned men to her bed, but no one seems to believe the three-hundred-year-old tale.
Rathe and Enslingen’s time together is disturbed when Point Sohier delivers an urgent message. Rathe is on the move again, back to Point of Dreams by request of Chief Trijn. There’s been a murder in Point of Sighs. The Chief introduces him to the man in attendance – Sr. Adjunct Edild Dammar of Point of Sighs.
Rathe knows of Dammar and his bad reputation at Sighs, and outside his own station. Dammar demands fees but never stays bought. There’s friction between Dammar and Rathe, especially when Dammar doesn’t get his way. Chief Trijn had advised Rathe to keep things as calm as possible – the suspect is a friend of her sister’s.
Mattaes Staenka is beeing held for the murder of Capt. Ketel Bes’Anthe. Mattaes is of the Staenka house, and his own sisters Meisenta and Redel are very important tea merchants. The tea trade has become very competitive, and some ships had not yet returned to port, making it more difficult. As Mattaes has turned twenty-five, Meisenta felt it was time for him to take part in the family business.
As much as Dammar wants to take Mattaes to Sighs, a deal is made to have him held at Point of Dreams instead. Dammar takes the fee, but tries to bribe Rathe with half of it. Rathe stays true to his word – he never takes fees from anyone. He works only for his salary. But the situation gets complicated when Dammar is attacked, and Rathe is appointed to take the Adjunct Point position at the hostile Sighs station.
Enslingen, in the meantime, has gotten caught up in a case of extortion on the docks. He finds out from young Steen that there’s danger to all that don’t pay – things get broken, there are delays in unloading trade, merchandise goes missing, and there are even accidents. Enslingen is not sure what he can do but he would certainly turn to Rathe and discuss the matter.
As things escalate, Enslingen and Rathe will once again work together to investigate all the chaos. How frightening will it get for Enslingen?
Melissa Scott knocks it out of the park with Point of Sighs, another Novel of Astreiant – my favorite of all the Astreiant books so far. It’s chock-full of suspense, mystery, excitement, magic, the use of poison, romance and heart-stopping danger.
I really like the change that comes over Nicolas Rathe. He shows a variety of emotions, including jealousy, anger, fear, caring and a determination not to give up especially when it comes to Enslingen. I’m still curious why he keeps his horoscope and astrological signs secret. Enslingen is charming, and I love his banter and snark, and how he doesn’t accept how attractive he is to others.
Two characters that piqued my interest were Euan Cambrai and Saffroy. Cap’pontoise Cambrai has no shame, and is a character I would like to see more of. Saffroy his tillerman and second in command, with a strong role in the novel as well.
Women are really strongly represented in all five stories. They are xhiefs of the different Points or work as Points, knifes, business owners, in political and government positions, work on the docks and ships, train and own dogs and much more.
I highly recommend Point of Sighs. The entire series is well worth immersing yourself in, starting with Point of Hopes, the first novel which introduces the Astreaint world and how it’s divided by the various Points. It’s not romantic per se, but we get to enjoy the building of ate friendship between Philip Enslingen and Nicolas Rathe. I can’t wait to see where its all leads. Scott is an outstanding story teller. I hope there’s more to come.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.