“You stay out of trouble, Ordu Syn,” she called after me.
I waved a dismissive hand.  “Missus M, why should I break a positively bad habit now?”

What happens when you get drunk and watch Clue and wonder 'what if this took place in a fantasy world?'?  Well...not THIS...exactly.  But that's how it started.  But then I needed a foil....a....'hero'....to investigate this tale.  And from the dusty bookshelves in the back of my beleaguered brain, in walks....Syn.

​

Scry ‘M’ For Murder

-A Magical Mystery Noir-

The wizard was dead.

            Dead, dead. Not just mostly dead. All dead.

            I’d have rifled thru his pockets for loose coin, but his robe didn’t have any pockets.

I hated magic crime.

Give me a common mugging, a simple ring of dumb, overly greedy thieves, some traditional vice. A good, old fashioned murder.

            Not some merchant rolled by an imp summoned by a rival. Not some dumb, overly greedy thieves who’ve bought invisibility cloaks or discovered a spell to walk thru walls. Not some back alley alchemy dealer and his magic drugs that let people experience telepathy or see into other realms best left unseen.  Not some corpse scorched by demon fire or chewed up by some enchanted monstrosity.

            Have I mentioned I really hated magic crime?

            Private inspector Ordu Syn may hate magic crime, but what’s a disgraced, former Warden turned private inspector in the city of Zavravair supposed to do when his past comes back to taunt him and the Duke himself tasks Syn with finding out who killed the Duke’s mage and why? 

Now he must travel all over the city, from the wizard’s country home to the churches on Temple Hill and the rich mansions on Ivory Hill, from the ethnic neighborhoods and marketplaces to the Elven and Dwarven quarters of the city. From the poorest ghettos and Warden Houses, to the very halls of the palace itself. All to discover who or what murdered the wizard.

            A wizard with a dirty secret and plenty of people with secrets of their own who’d love to see him dead; an Orc butler, a Dwarf cook, an Elf maid, a couple of foreign officials, a high priest, a madam, a crime boss, a reporter, a merchant… and a Duke who may just have another motive entirely.

            There’s a reason he hates magic crime.