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The Locked Tomb #0.5
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex
Each of the Empire's houses keeps secrets, even from themselves. For the bookish academics of the Sixth, every secret is a mystery, and every mystery is a puzzle to be solved or a paper to be published. Deep in the bowels of their house, one such secret is about to reveal itself. The study of the famed academic Donald Sex, sealed since the moment of his death, is about to open, and archivists are ready to dissect what he left behind. They are not ready for the macabre surprise that awaits them.
Enter Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, age thirteen.
Enter Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, age thirteen.
28 pages, ebook
First published June 2, 2020
144 people are currently reading
15426 people want to read
About the author
Tamsyn Muir
41 books15.5k followersTAMSYN MUIR is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Trilogy, which begins with Gideon the Ninth, continues with Harrow the Ninth, and concludes with Alecto the Ninth. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 863 reviews
August 3, 2020
The Warden had stopped at the threshold. He had a look on his face I knew well. He said, “Archivist, did the Doctor keep observational bones?”
“What? No; he did softs. Not much of a bone adept, apparently. Ty, any bones on the manifest?”
“Inlay on some of the books and bookcases,” said a team member.
“Then I submit for record: two hand skeletons on the desk,” said the Warden politely.
dunh dunh DUNHHH!!!!
i signed up to get this freebie story thru the publisher and never heard back, which seems to be a pretty common sob story about this story, but NO MORE DESPAIR, GUYS—it magically appeared as a free tor short yesterday, so if you were one of the overlooked, now's your chance!
i read and loved Gideon the Ninth, so you would think i'd be in a decent-enough position to read this prequel story meant to drum up excitement for the release of Harrow the Ninth. but BOY did i feel like a dummy for the first big chonk of it. i mean, if ever there were a time to use a jack skellington "what's this?" GIF, that time is NOW:
it's a lot of slang, jargon, half-remembered house-details and character-specifics, but it clears itself up reasonably quickly, jingling enough memory-bells before becoming its own thing—a fun locked-room mystery with BONES. reading it through a second time helps, too. this old brain ain't what she used to be. fortunately, camilla and palamedes have beautiful brains, and this is a really great mini-mystery tale—a three that grows into a four by the end. and that is all i will say about it, except, heh: sex.
read it for yourself here (if you've already read Gideon the Ninth, else i don't know what you'll make of it):
https://www.tor.com/2020/07/29/the-my...
come to my blog!
August 4, 2020
A weird little story I barely understood, but the last line made me emo and I love Palamedes and Camilla very dearly.
September 25, 2022
This is a short story from Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series and it really must be read after reading at least one of the books otherwise it will make no sense at all!
I loved the fact that it is set back in time when Palamedus and Camilla are only 13 years old. It takes place in the Sixth House which is also interesting since all the books so far have been in the Ninth. The story tells of the opening of the study of Donald Sex which was sealed some 400 years ago on his death.
This is how you write a locked room mystery about necromancers and bones! The room has been sealed for 400 years yet there are the bones of two hands on the desk which are only 200 years old. How can this be? Of course Palamedus and Camilla with their superior intellects can solve the mystery.
I thought this story was absolutely riveting and completely intriguing. And then that last sentence.
I cannot wait now to get my hands on a copy of Nona the Ninth.
I loved the fact that it is set back in time when Palamedus and Camilla are only 13 years old. It takes place in the Sixth House which is also interesting since all the books so far have been in the Ninth. The story tells of the opening of the study of Donald Sex which was sealed some 400 years ago on his death.
This is how you write a locked room mystery about necromancers and bones! The room has been sealed for 400 years yet there are the bones of two hands on the desk which are only 200 years old. How can this be? Of course Palamedus and Camilla with their superior intellects can solve the mystery.
I thought this story was absolutely riveting and completely intriguing. And then that last sentence.
I cannot wait now to get my hands on a copy of Nona the Ninth.
October 31, 2022
who needs crack cocaine when u have campal instead
August 15, 2020
This story was inventive, the world-building is intriguing, and Muir's prose style is interesting.
I can't say there was any level on which the story was particularly satisfactory to me. I didn't care about the characters or have much sense of who they were. The mystery plot doesn't work for a mystery-fan because the reader doesn't have any of the necessary information until after everyone else. The hidden secret seemed unimportant.
It's possible you're meant to have reader the novel set in the same world before this -- perhaps I was supposed to know who these people were and what their ranks and practices meant? My friends who Gideon the Ninth seemed to enjoy this more than I did.
I can't say there was any level on which the story was particularly satisfactory to me. I didn't care about the characters or have much sense of who they were. The mystery plot doesn't work for a mystery-fan because the reader doesn't have any of the necessary information until after everyone else. The hidden secret seemed unimportant.
It's possible you're meant to have reader the novel set in the same world before this -- perhaps I was supposed to know who these people were and what their ranks and practices meant? My friends who Gideon the Ninth seemed to enjoy this more than I did.
July 8, 2022
The Archivist’s four-scholar team were stationed at a door, waiting beneath a nameplate saying D. SEX. They looked as delighted at the prospect as their leader, and they all issued each other congratulatory handshakes. Nobody seemed surprised that the Warden and I were there. They knew who Palamedes Sextus was. One of them said, “They finished sweeping for wards. We’re clear. Juno, do you want the honours?” and she said, “Do I,” and she sliced the ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT tape seal, and she fitted the key within the lock.
I loved this short story, Camilla and Palamedes being two of my favourite characters in a series that's all favourite characters. I can also see it being absolutely impenetrable to someone not already familiar; I am and still took a while to get settled in and have it make sense. Tamsyn Muir is writing beautiful work, but sometimes you just have to allow the confusion and keep reading; it'll start making sense by the end (or by the second reread, Harrow). Regardless, this is a series doing something extremely interesting, and if it's your kind of thing there's nothing else out there quite like it.
Free here (thank you Tor!): https://www.tor.com/2020/07/29/the-my...
I loved this short story, Camilla and Palamedes being two of my favourite characters in a series that's all favourite characters. I can also see it being absolutely impenetrable to someone not already familiar; I am and still took a while to get settled in and have it make sense. Tamsyn Muir is writing beautiful work, but sometimes you just have to allow the confusion and keep reading; it'll start making sense by the end (or by the second reread, Harrow). Regardless, this is a series doing something extremely interesting, and if it's your kind of thing there's nothing else out there quite like it.
Free here (thank you Tor!): https://www.tor.com/2020/07/29/the-my...
June 4, 2020
It's missing The Locked Tomb hours 😍 and missing Palamedes Sextus.
This short story was an interesting interlude and I loved how different sixth house was to ninth house. I kind of want to see a day in the life of all the houses now.
This short story was an interesting interlude and I loved how different sixth house was to ninth house. I kind of want to see a day in the life of all the houses now.
June 15, 2023
"Palamedes remembers everything: That was his problem.
I always remember him. That’s mine."
Curling up in a ball crying about Paul as we speak
I always remember him. That’s mine."
Curling up in a ball crying about Paul as we speak
September 1, 2025
i love camilla hect and palamedes sextus so much i’m going to absolutely vomit
December 3, 2020
I can reproduce the letter because I’ve still got it. I kept all of them. He didn’t need to. Palamedes remembered everything he ever saw.
I'm in the middle of reading Harrow and just remembered that this exists. A short story featuring Palamedes and Camilla when they're thirteen and take part in the unsealing of a long dead doctor's study. This was a bit dense but really cool to read, and get a little more world-building on other Houses.
And just... god I love the Sixth. Palamedes is my GUY.
I'm in the middle of reading Harrow and just remembered that this exists. A short story featuring Palamedes and Camilla when they're thirteen and take part in the unsealing of a long dead doctor's study. This was a bit dense but really cool to read, and get a little more world-building on other Houses.
And just... god I love the Sixth. Palamedes is my GUY.
December 18, 2025
Pregaming my Human Anatomy 101 class next semester by reading about my favorite necromancers ☠️
August 22, 2022
I always loved Palamedes and Camilla. Reading about what they were getting up to (and into) at thirteen was just amazing. I love them. And this short story. And this series.
Edit: 8/21 I never realized that the letter at the beginning was from Dulciniea! Ya learn something new every time hah.
Edit: 8/21 I never realized that the letter at the beginning was from Dulciniea! Ya learn something new every time hah.
September 12, 2023
this really hits different after nona
Read
April 30, 2021this was so cute! i love camilla and palamedes sm!!
March 25, 2024
I didn't expect a less confusing book from my favorite writer.
Read
June 14, 2024Oh the final two lines of this were just RUDE… I was having a fun time, don’t remind me about sad endings 😭
July 30, 2020
I really had no idea what's happening here. I think it's necessary to first read Gideon the Ninth and maybe also Harrow the Ninth to make sense of this. I was hoping to get enough of a glimpse of the world and Muir's writing that it might make me interested in reading them. Nope.
September 15, 2022
Short story about Palamedes and Camilla that shouldn't be read before Gideon the Ninth. I think the concept of using short stories to expand a fictional universe is a great idea and The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex is a good example of this.
Read
December 16, 2024deyr baybies!!
March 30, 2022
She clasped her hands together and said, “We’re going downstairs—to the study of Doctor Sex!”
The Warden looked at me. I looked at the Warden. I recall that we decided not to.
i love them both so fucking much. i love this look into the sixth house. the last two paragraphs made me want to end my life. thanks tazmuir
August 10, 2024
Been saving the Locked Tomb short stories as a treat for a day when I need them and I think this is one of the right days. And this definitely was a lovely treat, more time with Cam and Pal, a very quick and fun little mystery about Dr. Sex - it's not as salacious as it sounds, though!
Really loved the vibe in my favorite teamup (the most romantic platonic relationship ever), Pal's relationship with his mother and all the bits and pieces of worldbuilding and getting to know what life is like in the Sixth House. Shocking nobody, everyone is a huge nerd here, and so j'adore!
Really loved the vibe in my favorite teamup (the most romantic platonic relationship ever), Pal's relationship with his mother and all the bits and pieces of worldbuilding and getting to know what life is like in the Sixth House. Shocking nobody, everyone is a huge nerd here, and so j'adore!
January 10, 2021
A tie-in short (novelette?) to Muir's Locked Tomb trilogy. If you decide to read this, you should definitely only read it after Gideon the Ninth; this one is a lovely little piece of expanded worldbuilding, but it's probably borderline incomprehensible without the context of already being familiar with this setting. Even after GtN and its sequel, Harrow the Ninth, there's just so much dizzying unexplained terminology here that works better as flavour text rather than actual clear-cut exposition.
Karen's review summarises it really well: "it's a lot of slang, jargon, half-remembered house-details and character-specifics, but it clears itself up reasonably quickly, jingling enough memory-bells before becoming its own thing—a fun locked-room mystery with BONES."
That said!! If you are already familiar with the Locked Tomb world and characters, then this lil mystery is great. A fleshing-out of Palamedes and Camilla, their comradely cousin and Warden/cavalier relationship back when they were thirteen. These two were possibly my favourite characters in GtN, so it's just nice to spend more time with them and see a bit more of what 'normal' life is like in the world of the Nine Houses — plus the overwhelming, tongue-in-cheek bureaucracy and hoops that is the structure of the Sixth House. I love fantastical magical bureaucracy!!
And then, right at the end, it hits you with Palamedes' letters and some emotions and, oh, my heart.
Read it here.
Karen's review summarises it really well: "it's a lot of slang, jargon, half-remembered house-details and character-specifics, but it clears itself up reasonably quickly, jingling enough memory-bells before becoming its own thing—a fun locked-room mystery with BONES."
That said!! If you are already familiar with the Locked Tomb world and characters, then this lil mystery is great. A fleshing-out of Palamedes and Camilla, their comradely cousin and Warden/cavalier relationship back when they were thirteen. These two were possibly my favourite characters in GtN, so it's just nice to spend more time with them and see a bit more of what 'normal' life is like in the world of the Nine Houses — plus the overwhelming, tongue-in-cheek bureaucracy and hoops that is the structure of the Sixth House. I love fantastical magical bureaucracy!!
And then, right at the end, it hits you with Palamedes' letters and some emotions and, oh, my heart.
Read it here.
December 15, 2020
A fun story to read before Harrow the Ninth.
Palamedes and Camilla from Sixth House are the main characters in this story, but they're thirteen. Along with other members of Sixth House, they investigate a pair of broken skeleton hands within the study of the titular Doctor Ronald Sex. What follows is an investigation from Camilla's POV as to where the hands the hands came form and from whom.
Like the first book in the trilogy, "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex" had a mystery to it that its conclusion that did not totally answer. We figure out that Doctor Sex wrote a letter on actual paper concerning post-Resurrection thanergy, but what we don't know. Will this be answered in Harrow the Ninth or the last book? Also, why is paper so rare in this universe?
The touching, but sad, thing about this short story is that it shows Camilla's unrequited feelings for Palamedes and Palamedes' unrequited feelings for Dulcinea. Knowing both (or at least Palamedes') of their fates in Gideon the Ninth, this made me a little sad.
Palamedes and Camilla from Sixth House are the main characters in this story, but they're thirteen. Along with other members of Sixth House, they investigate a pair of broken skeleton hands within the study of the titular Doctor Ronald Sex. What follows is an investigation from Camilla's POV as to where the hands the hands came form and from whom.
Like the first book in the trilogy, "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex" had a mystery to it that its conclusion that did not totally answer. We figure out that Doctor Sex wrote a letter on actual paper concerning post-Resurrection thanergy, but what we don't know. Will this be answered in Harrow the Ninth or the last book? Also, why is paper so rare in this universe?
The touching, but sad, thing about this short story is that it shows Camilla's unrequited feelings for Palamedes and Palamedes' unrequited feelings for Dulcinea. Knowing both (or at least Palamedes') of their fates in Gideon the Ninth, this made me a little sad.
January 17, 2021
The study of doctor Donald Sex has remained sealed since his death 460 years ago. Now an Archivist, accompanied by a small group have gained permission to unseal the room, a young Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sextus are part of that group. As soon as they enter the first thing they see is inexplicable.
I'd basically been not reading at all, but started this short on my phone while walking the dog, then kept reading as I sat down to play a game, then just sat there and kept reading till I finished instead. I'd forgot how well Muir can just grab you and drag you along with uncovering a mystery, this story does that beautifully.
I'd basically been not reading at all, but started this short on my phone while walking the dog, then kept reading as I sat down to play a game, then just sat there and kept reading till I finished instead. I'd forgot how well Muir can just grab you and drag you along with uncovering a mystery, this story does that beautifully.
September 17, 2022
Fascinating short story about Camilla and Palamedes as children.
I loved the glimpse into Sixth House culture and more necromancer stuffs and background worldbuilding, bUT OUCH, THAT ENDING.
I loved the glimpse into Sixth House culture and more necromancer stuffs and background worldbuilding, bUT OUCH, THAT ENDING.
August 31, 2024
4/5
A story of Palamedes and Cam when they were young, solving a mystery in the Sixth House, and this guy could play Sherlock nicely, quirks and everything.
A story of Palamedes and Cam when they were young, solving a mystery in the Sixth House, and this guy could play Sherlock nicely, quirks and everything.
August 16, 2022
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex by author Tamsyn Muir is a short story prequel in the Locked Tomb series. You can read for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2020/07/29/the-my...
Each of the Empire’s houses keeps secrets, even from themselves. For the bookish academics of the Sixth, every secret is a mystery, and every mystery is a puzzle to be solved or a paper to be published. Deep in the bowels of their house, one such secret is about to reveal itself. The study of the famed academic Donald Sex, sealed since the moment of his death, is about to open, and archivists are ready to dissect what he left behind. They are not ready for the macabre surprise that awaits them.
Enter Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, age thirteen.
I waited with this one until I had read Gideon the Ninth and I’m glad I did. It makes much more sense for one knowing the characters, the houses and the Locked Tomb Universe already.
4 Stars
Each of the Empire’s houses keeps secrets, even from themselves. For the bookish academics of the Sixth, every secret is a mystery, and every mystery is a puzzle to be solved or a paper to be published. Deep in the bowels of their house, one such secret is about to reveal itself. The study of the famed academic Donald Sex, sealed since the moment of his death, is about to open, and archivists are ready to dissect what he left behind. They are not ready for the macabre surprise that awaits them.
Enter Palamedes Sextus and Camilla Hect, age thirteen.
I waited with this one until I had read Gideon the Ninth and I’m glad I did. It makes much more sense for one knowing the characters, the houses and the Locked Tomb Universe already.
4 Stars
August 10, 2020
Following 13-year-old Camilla and Palamedes and set in the very bureaucratic Sixth House, this story is just as funny as usual for the series. If you've read and loved Gideon the Ninth, this is full of references and details that might really appeal to you - but if you haven't, I don't think anything in here could. Would any of this even be comprehensible to someone who hasn't read the book? It barely was to me, and I have, if a while ago. Still, I've always liked stories about young teens surprising adults, though, and that's exactly what this is.
July 4, 2025
I truly do love the Sixth House.
Updated Review (December 30, 2022): I TRULY DO FUCKING LOVE THE SIXTH HOUSE!!!
Updated Review (June 18, 2024): "Palamedes remembers everything: That was his problem. I always remember him. That's mine." Let's all hold hands and jump.
Reread July 4, 2025-July 4, 2025: The Sixth House... 🚬🐤
Updated Review (December 30, 2022): I TRULY DO FUCKING LOVE THE SIXTH HOUSE!!!
Updated Review (June 18, 2024): "Palamedes remembers everything: That was his problem. I always remember him. That's mine." Let's all hold hands and jump.
Reread July 4, 2025-July 4, 2025: The Sixth House... 🚬🐤
June 18, 2020
Simple little story. Fits the world nicely. Not really enough to it to get super excited about it. But it’s quick enough and it’s nice to get a little reminder of the world while we wait for Harrow the Ninth.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 863 reviews