You may, perhaps, have heard of the Maradaine novels by Marshall Ryan Maresca, a dozen interconnected novels spanning four different series. Perhaps you were scared off by the concept of starting a series that already has a dozen books… believe me, I understand, and someday I will read The Wheel of Time books. And maybe the 400 pages of An Unintended Voyage seemed a bit long for you to jump into, even though it’s a standalone novel set elsewhere in the world.
How about 146 pages? Maresca recently release a novella, The Mystical Murders of Yin Mara, intertwining hints from Maradaine with his extensive world-building as Phadre Golmin and Jiarna Kay travel from Maradaine to study magical and mystical theory as research assistants at Yin Mara College. Their studies are both aided and complicated by a series of murders beyond their experience, and well outside the capacity of this small city’s constabulary to solve on their own.
As is typical of a detective story, you’ll wonder how many deaths it will take our heroes to solve this conundrum. But you’ll also wonder what they’ll put at risk for that answer… their careers and those of the other researchers on their team could be in jeopardy as they chase clues across private property and ultimately air an accusation at a public event filled with high profile donors to their research.
My goodness, are you still here? You could already be reading this fabulous book instead of lingering for my conclusion. Quick, read this delightful novella before he releases another one! (You know, to clear space on your to read pile for that one too.)