Mistress Charm is a witch, maybe, and a madam certainly. She presides over Orchard House, a brothel/social club catering to Borengard’s most wealthy and powerful. The eponymous orchard is filled with bone trees, which fruit can be animated into living creatures. Mistress Charm is also mistress to the Emperor, who visits every Tuesday. When the Emperor is poisoned, he charges Charm with finding (and killing) those responsible for his death. This book is so densely plotted and detailed that it took me quite a while […]
“You’ll find that what you can bear increases a great deal when you are not offered any other choice.”
The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller