Best Left in the Shadows by Mark Gelineau, Joe King

Best Left in the Shadows by Mark Gelineau, Joe King ISBN-13: 9781944015046 Paperback: 80 pages Publisher: Gelineau and King Released: Nov. 15, 2015

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
A Highside girl. Beaten. Murdered. Her body found on a Lowside dock. A magistrate comes looking for answers. For justice.

Alys trades and sells secrets among the gangs and factions of Lowside. She is a daughter of the underworld. Bold. Cunning. Free. When an old lover asks for help, she agrees. For a price.

Together, they travel into the dark heart of the underworld in search of a killer.


My Review:
Best Left in the Shadows is a short story--a fantasy that contains a mystery. A well-born girl is found dead in the slum area, so a well-born magistrate comes looking for answers. He's guided around by a low-born gal with whom he has a romantic past. They're an interesting contrast to each other--one is idealistic, the other very practical. Both can fight well, and they get the chance to do it. They ask questions, follow clues, and unravel the truth.

The characters were interesting, varied, and played well off each other. The fantasy world was reasonably well developed for a short story, and I could always follow what was going on even though I was unfamiliar with this world. I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading future stories in the Alys series.

There was a fair amount of bad language (half of it relating to excrement and the other half cursing words). There was no sex. I was surprised and pleased by their depiction of a brothel, which focused on the people, not their sexual appeal. Overall, I'd recommend this fun, short story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.