A Troll Walks into a Bar by Douglas Lumsden
A Troll Walks into a Bar by Douglas Lumsden
The human detective in a fantasy world has become a very popular trope since Glen Cook published Sweet Silver Blues back in 1990. This novel looked like more of the same, but proved to be a richer experience than I first expected. The fantasy world is more of an urban fantasy world in that it appears technology-wise to be twenty-first century Earth with all the bureaucracy that goes with it. Where Cook's Garrett is based on Rex Stout's Archie Goodwin (with the Deadman playing Nero Wolfe), Lumsden's Alexander Southerland is more in line with Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe, going from one beating to the next until he finally figures out who committed the crime.
The mystery—which ends up being who committed a murder—revolves around a mysterious box that must be kept cold and is boobytrapped so the wrong party can't open it. What is in that box proves to be both very interesting and a credible motivator for everything that happens in the story. It also depends heavily on some excellent worldbuilding that forms the foundation of this novel and presumably the series.
If you're a fan of the detective-in-a-fantasy-world style of story, you will definitely want to check this one out.
