"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 that is the first book in a new series 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 record-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, with only days to prove his innocence before his execution, will uncover a conspiracy that threatens the entire corrupt yet wondrous city he calls home.