The Riddle Box — G. Derek Adams

Agatha Christie plays Dungeons & Dragons. Our Heroes Investigate A Series of Murders. Poorly. Jonas and Rime return for their second adventure. Of course they aren't actually aware that it's the 'second' adventure, how does one categorize sequential happenings after all? Jonas would consider this at least his 11th adventure, if you count that time he fell into the pig trough. Rime refuses to distinguish between the discrete moments of death-adjacency in her life, so merely thinks of them as 'Oh, Another Thing I Have to Deal With'. Fans of the first novel, Spell/Sword, know the deal. Jonas is a squire, reasonably competent with a sword and not much else. Rime is a wild mage - unfathomably powerful,physically frail,doomed to madness, and really a pain to be around most of the time. Having narrowly escaped the brutal Hunt, the two travelers arrive at the House of the Heart-Broken Lion, an elegant manor deep in the dark woods. They interrupt a banquet and watch a play and also witness a murder. The doors are locked so one of the guests is a killer. You see where this is going, yes? Don't be so sure...there are many secrets waiting inside the Riddle Box.