Travis Baldree

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
I truly enjoyed Baldree’s first book, Legends & Lattes, and I think he’s made another wonderful cozy fantasy for everyone who loved Viv’s story in the original. Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel rather than a sequel, so we get to see Viv before she settled down in Thune.
Viv is young and eager to prove herself to the group of mercenaries she’s just joined, but during a battle with a powerful necromancer’s wraiths, she’s wounded and has to be left in Murk, a quiet seaside town, to recuperate. Viv worries her group will never come back for her. To distract herself, she decides to explore and surprisingly makes some new friends, but she quickly learns the sleepy town of Murk might be more exciting than she expected when a mysterious stranger shows up and starts causing trouble.
I’m a fan of high-stakes fantasy and horror stories, but sometimes it’s nice to read something light and fun. Bookshops & Bonedust certainly meets that criteria while also keeping your attention. I don’t think there was one character I didn’t like, including the main villain of the story. The book also manages to have that same comfortable feeling as Legends & Lattes while still having some unsettling moments to keep the reader on their toes. On the other hand, there were a couple of moments that dragged for me, where I would have liked to see a little more action. That being said, Baldree is excellent at world-building. He makes everything about his fantasy land seem completely natural.… (more)