Status Updates From Pearls of Lutra (Redwall, #9)

I did not expect them to kill off a character as young as Piknim, especially with a death as brutal as being pecked to death by jackdaws.

Why do the vermin die such brutal deaths for no reason?
Martin (different Martin, this one is less crazy) and friends take a rat prisoner on their ship. The rat is pretty chill with being kidnapped and surprisingly polite, but ends up crushed to death by an iceberg.
It seems that one rat from The Bellmaker and the pine martin from Mossflower are the only ones who get to be happy

I can tell the author is British because one of the friars is married

Apart from the talking animals, this series is pretty grounded, so I was surprised that the main villain, Ublaz, legitimately has wacky mind powers. He can mind control lizards and drove a weasel to suicide with a glare

Unlike all the other books, this one does not have a prologue

Starting off strong with a young hedgehog maid and baby squirrel finding a corpse