The Lord Apparent's Razor

4.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
A serial killer is stalking Castle Faldorrah, murdering serving maids one by one. The grandson of the Castle's Lord (and of the King) is the prime suspect. But castellan Dubriec Brierly and his staff can't seem to either find definitive evidence or keep the other girls safe.

Review
I'm not sure I'm sold on the idea of breaking these books into episodes. They're quick, good reads, but they are installments, rather than standalone stories. As with the first, this ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and it's quite evident that it's just a piece of the story. I think Jones might have been better off just selling the different branches as alternate version of the original novel, with a little overlap. I suppose if you're more of a dipper than a binge-watcher, this episodic approach may work for you.

As with the preceding book, Weight of the Castellan's Curse, this book is part of the original, previously published version of the story. However, now there's a competing, alternate version – the series fork at the end of the previous book. I'm of two minds as to whether to read the alternate version (and keep flipping back and forth) or just go forward with this version and then shift to the alternates.

As before, and unsurprisingly, the writing and characters are excellent. There are some weaker spots in this installment, however. As part of the full novel, they were less apparent, but here there are a few awkward, authorially convenient moments that aren't as convincing as they might be. Nonetheless, a very solid installment in an excellent series. Even if I do keep misreading the title as The Lord's Apparent Razor, which makes no sense.