Irody can speak to the dead. But the living want him silenced.‘An engrossing, ingenious story in a beautifully crafted world’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Sunday Times bestselling mystery of murder, magic and mayhem from RJ Barker, award-winning author of The Bone Ships.
Mortedants can speak to the dead – and Irody Hasp is the greatest of them. Not that they’ll admit it. And not that anyone actually likes the Mortedants, or Irody in particular. Nonetheless, Elbay is a city of tradition, and tradition calls for Mortedants to attend a death.

But when Irody reads the corpse of a low-level record-keeper, he’s dragged into a conspiracy that will see someone close to him murdered and Irody framed for the crime. With only days to prove his innocence before he is executed, Irody is forced to work with unlikely and unwanted allies: a street urchin and a hulking, inhuman mercenary from the sea people’s city of Oknusoka. With danger lurking around every corner, Irody is running out of time. He must save himself and his friends, as well as Elbay – the magnificent, terrifying, complicated city that he loves. Or darkness will fall on them all.

Mortedant's Peril is an epic historical fantasy perfect for fans of Six of Crows and City of Last Chances.

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Praise for RJ Barker

'Mortedant’s Peril is a fabulous fantasy mystery set in a fresh, imaginative world'
- Sebastien de Castell, author of Traitor's Blade

‘Brilliant’
– Robin Hobb, author of Assassin's Apprentice

‘A gifted storyteller’
– Nicholas Eames, author of King's of the Wild

‘A splendid fantasy work . . . Highly recommended’
– Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time


Mortedant's Peril was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 25/05/2026.