Title –  The Malykant Mysteries Compendium: Books 1 – 4
Author – Charlotte E. English
Genre –  Fantasy
Length –  330 Pages
Publication – Feb 2015
My Rating –  5/5 Stars

Synopsis

 Konrad Savast is the Malykant: foremost and most secret servant of the God of Death. His job? To track down the foulest of murderers and bring them to The Malykt’s Justice. No mercy. No quarter.

The Rostikov Legacy: When Konrad discovers the body of a wealthy society hostess lying in the cold, mist-shrouded reaches of the Bone Forest, the pressure is on to find her killer. Can he catch the killer without revealing himself as the Malykant?

The Ivanov Diamond: When three people turn up dead, their immortal souls missing, Konrad’s got a strange case on his hands. And it’s clear that it’s got something to do with the theft of a great and valuable diamond from one of Ekamet’s wealthiest citizens…

Myrrolen’s Ghost Circus: When a corpse turns up in the middle of Myrrolena’s famed circus, Konrad must uncover the weird truth behind the mysterious travelling show—and without falling foul of its enigmatic Ringmistress, Myrrolena herself.

Ghostspeaker: When a wealthy young woman takes her own life, Konrad is sent to investigate. Was it suicide, or murder? Or… both? To discover the truth, Konrad must navigate the combined perils of society gossip, an unregistered Ghostspeaker and a host of unquiet spirits.

Review

This compendium is made up of 4 short stories which have previous been released separately. I really enjoy collections like this as it not only offers value for money but also gives you more to read. I love a good short story but they always leave me wanting more.. a selection like this is perfect to keep you happy if you’re like me.

So these tales focus on the life of Konrad Savast. Savast has two sides to him, first being the wealthy and respectable citizen the second being the Malykant who basically deals out justice for those who have been murdered.

The idea for the Malykant really intrigued me, this dark avenger fighting for those who can’t. The added fantasy twists to the underlying tale of vengeance make for a very engrossing read.

I definitely think getting the compendium instead of the separate books is the way to go so you can move from tale to tale with the previous book fresh in your mind. You don’t need to do this but for me It gave something extra to the development of the characters, you can see Savast grow and struggle with his role as the Malykant and you can see his relationship with Nanda expand and motivations come to light in book 4 that tie things together nicely.

Also I really enjoyed Konrad’s companions in justice, Ootapi & Eetapi, their sense of humour fits perfectly with the theme of the book and I just loved them popping up.

I was already a fan of Charlottes before reading this collection and she has definitely kept me happy with this one. It’s beautifully written to help the reader understand the characters and their surroundings. The descriptiveness really did help paint a picture in my head as I was reading

I’ve given the book a 5* but I was left wanting more.. It credit to the author I guess.. Charlotte has managed to make 300+ pages seem like 100.. I got immersed so much I didn’t even see the end I sight. I’m looking forward to reading and review more of her work

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