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The Stitcher and the Mute

(Tales of Fenest #2)

D.K. Fields (Goodreads Author)

4.35 · Rating details · 40 ratings · 10 reviews

Detective Cora Gorderheim has found the man who strangled the Wayward storyteller, but he was just a small part of a much bigger tale. Someone powerful ordered a murder on Cora's patch. That someone still lurks in the shadows. But as she continues her investigations, Cora is warned not to pry into the great and the good of Fenest. Too stubborn to know better, Cora keeps di ...more

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Hardcover, 496 pages

Published November 12th 2020 by Head of Zeus

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Oct 24, 2020 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

It doesn’t take long for the story that Detective Cora Gorderheim’s been telling to gain weight… and a heavy one at that… in the form of a body with a familiar face. Turns out someone important, perhaps even a Chambers, needed their connections to the Wayward killing kept quiet and it seems that bloody murder is a small price to pay for getting away scot free. They should have known better. Cora won’t let sleeping dogs, or dead bodies, lie. She’s prepared to shake things up, and put her life on It doesn’t take long for the story that Detective Cora Gorderheim’s been telling to gain weight… and a heavy one at that… in the form of a body with a familiar face. Turns out someone important, perhaps even a Chambers, needed their connections to the Wayward killing kept quiet and it seems that bloody murder is a small price to pay for getting away scot free. They should have known better. Cora won’t let sleeping dogs, or dead bodies, lie. She’s prepared to shake things up, and put her life on the line, to find out who’s behind this crime. And what she reveals is world shattering...

As in the first book, The Stitcher and the Mute is a celebration of storytelling. More than that, it’s a multifaceted exploration of the power of words. Here, that power is made explicit through election stories, but if there’s ever a connection to be made between fiction and real life, then this is it. Amongst the entertainment, there’s a warning, both within the book and for those of us without: always look out for what’s hidden as much as what’s on display. Words are slippery things, perfectly suited to deceive. And a whole different story can hide in what's not said. For the Union, this is an election like no other, but there are some who don't want that tale told. It’s up to Cora to separate truth from lies, even if she has to go beyond words, right to the source, and see the truth with her own eyes...

Now, if you thought the authors had showcased their best ‘stories within stories within stories’ designs in Widow's Welcome, you’ve got a surprise coming. The beautifully rolling histories in the Perlish tale were a masterpiece of narrative creation. I’m genuinely awed by how innovative these books are in both form and objective. Yet what’s even more impressive is that the very obvious cleverness is never allowed to outweigh or overpower each novel’s connection with the audience. Yes, there are multiple layers.Yes, there are lots of links within and between stories. But this is a book to be enjoyed and it’s clear that the authors have neglected neither feeling nor character in their desire to create this wonderfully different reading experience. Each individual, whatever their page time, is immediately and stunningly real. Every one engaging enough to hold the reader's attention through their part, whatever shape that takes. I can’t wait to discover how this play's out.

ARC via Netgalley ...more

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Oct 27, 2020 Katrina Evans rated it it was amazing

I LOVED this book. It did everything that a '2 of 3' needs to do in an elegant and engaging way.

The worldbuilding set up in book 1 is used masterfully as a base for nuance and detail in this book.

The pacing is excellent, it has a nice rhythm that matches the story.

The plot is imaginative and the layers of story telling are awe inspiring, I really like how both book 1 and this book have a distinct story that is told and resolved within that 'episode' while still keeping the broader arc is sigh ...more

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Aug 15, 2020 Shannon rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Stitcher and the Mute is the second in the Fenest books and we are back with detective Cora Gonderheim as she tries to root out what is rotten in the state of Fenest. Apparently quite a lot.
The second book follows the style of the first as Cora’s investigations wrap around two more election stories; one from the Perlish and one from the Torn probably the two most divergent socioeconomic groups in the union. This format is tricky and I struggled with it in the first book because it takes the The Stitcher and the Mute is the second in the Fenest books and we are back with detective Cora Gonderheim as she tries to root out what is rotten in the state of Fenest. Apparently quite a lot.
The second book follows the style of the first as Cora’s investigations wrap around two more election stories; one from the Perlish and one from the Torn probably the two most divergent socioeconomic groups in the union. This format is tricky and I struggled with it in the first book because it takes the reader out of the main action for a good length of time to read a short story that seemingly has little relevance to the main plot. I found it easier this time around probably because the stories were not the doom laden gloom fests they were in the first. They Perlish story was positively light hearted and I appreciated the skill of telling a story with a story within a story within a story. (But we’re not allowed to like the Perlish because they have all the money and the power so boo!) The stories are valuable in learning how the different groups live in the union which is important when it comes to the understanding how this world operates. The election stories also take us away from Cora which is bad because I love Cora.
Cora is an absolute hero. She smokes like a chimney, has a pronounced limp, gambles all her money away, uses prostitutes for warmth (and their tailor connections), rarely washes her hair or her face, hardly ever eats or sleeps or changes her clothes and in the first book still manages to pull Finnuc, a huge, hot Tasker who it turns out is twenty years her junior. Yes he turns out to be a wrong’un but the pretty ones always are. Then a matter of days later in the second book she’s already snogging the hot metal cheeked fire investigator. She must be working those stolen coats something rotten. Although I have learned my lesson from beautiful Finnuc (who Cora rightly says wasn’t all bad) and am wary of the auburn locked fire investigator he may have something cooking with the Rustan chambers or Cora’s using him for his connections. We will have to see how that all shakes down. But it would be nice to have some light in Fenest.
Cora also has to get to grips with the return of her estranged sister Ruth. This was probably the weakest part of the story for me. Cora’s been hugging a grudge for the her sister for thirty years but seems to forget it in the span of one road trip. Yes the road trip is to see the world being eaten by a giant lava flow but still, Cora’s acquiescence of Ruth’s story seems too easily won after such a bitter build up.
It all sets up nicely for the third book where we will get the last two election stories and hopefully Cora will finally get around to having the damned glass removed from her foot! ...more

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Nov 14, 2020 Vivienne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, detective, fantasy, police-procedural, political-fiction

My thanks to Head of Zeus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Stitcher and the Mute’ by D.K. Fields in exchange for an honest review. I subsequently bought its ebook and audiobook,
narrated by Helen Vine.

This is Book 2 in their Tales of Fenest trilogy, which began in 2019 with ‘Widow’s Welcome’. It again combines the themes of politics and storytelling with a police procedural set in a fantasy realm. As this is a trilogy the books should be read in order.

Detective Cora Gorderheim is continuing he ...more

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Jan 05, 2021 Amy Kitcher rated it it was amazing

The Fenest Trilogy continues to be one is the most interesting, original and compelling I have ever read.

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Nov 11, 2020 Alexander rated it liked it

A good, entertaining read that suffered for evidently being the second book of a trilogy. The whole way through I felt I was rushing to get to the end, but perhaps this is because I’m unaccustomed to police procedurals? Still, the world of Fenest is well realised and the danger felt all too real.

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Jun 17, 2020 Lynsay Tervit rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebooks, netgalley, read-in-2020, reviews, series

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the series, which starts with Widows Welcome.

This is a fantasy book, based in an unusual world where stories are the main currency, elections are determined by storytellers and there are numerous gods with specific qualities. It took me a while to get into this, but I think this was partly because it was a sequel so I wasn’t very sure of all the ins and outs of the world. I believe that this must also ...more

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Nov 29, 2020 Barrie Llewelyn rated it it was amazing

In the second book of the Tales of Fenest trilogy, D K Fields have continued to create a unique world which is also scarily close to our own. There is still an election in progress and it is still to be decided by who tells the best story. (With the recent US election still in some dispute, it is chilling to even write those words.) There is a plague raging in the background, corruption, fake news and back story secrets. And there the age old story of a colorful detective determined to find out ...more

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Dec 06, 2020 Luna added it

Shelves: netgalley

DNF

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About D.K. Fields

D.K. Fields

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DK Fields is the writing partnership of novelists David Towsey and Katherine Stansfield.

They both write individually: David’s zombie-western The Walkin’ Trilogy is published by Quercus. Katherine’s historical crime fiction series, Cornish Mysteries, is published by Allison & Busby. She is also a poet.