What I’m Reading: Shades of the Past

Ah, it’s a pleasure to return to the next book in one of my favorite fantasy series, The Dark Goddess. I have previously reviewed the first book in the series, Silver and Shadow, as well as the second book, Missing by Moonlight.

In this third book, Shades of the Past, lady paladin Ginnevra and her mate, the physician werewolf Eodan, are sent on a diplomatic mission to Quinizelle, an isolated mountain city where the local population is split between Ginnevra’s religion, the Faith, which follows the Dark Goddess, and a local pagan religion, the Torunes. At one time the two religions co-existed peacefully in the city, but in the past few years, the Torunes have begun persecuting the people of the Faith, or so the Blessed has heard. So she’s sending Ginnevra to get King Paolo of Quinizelle to protect all the people of his city. And if she’s not able to do so, she has been given the power to cut off trade between Quinizelle and all cities under the rule of the Dark Goddess.

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Ginnevra is pretty nervous about this mission because she knows she’s not a diplomatic person, preferring to be straightforward and get right to the point in any interaction. Additionally, she has a personal connection, as four years earlier, she and a group of paladins were to escort King Paolo’s sister, Lady Dianetta, on her way to be married in another city. However, their group was ambushed by brigands who killed Lady Dianetta, and later, the captain of the paladin guard was falsely accused of accepting a bribe to allow the killing, making it an assassination. Ginnevra’s one-time best friend in the guard, Filippa, quit so that she could investigate and clear the captain’s name. Coincidentally (or not), Filippa has showed up right before Ginnevra was sent on this diplomatic mission, claiming to have new evidence clearing her captain’s name: one of the brigands had a document ordering the assassination and marked with a symbol related to a leading family in Quinizelle.

As soon as Ginnevra and Eodan arrive in Quinizelle, she realizes the situation is much more complicated than she’d thought. From the very first day, she intervenes to prevent a small mob from attacking a few scared believers. Only, she discovers it’s the attackers who are of the Faithful, and the victims are Torunes. Moreover, when she meets with Hallowed Nevante, the head priestess of the Faithful at the local temple in Quinizelle, Nevante expresses hatred of the Torunes, and believes encouraging the Faithful to defend themselves, with force of necessary, is the right thing to do.

Ginnevra’s first meeting with King Paolo does not go well, and the head priest of the Torunes, Reinaldus, who is openly hostile to the Faithful, personally attends King Paolo and seems to always be around him. But Ginnevra does learn she may have an ally in Pattero, the nobleman who escorts her around the castle and reveals himself to be a secret member of the Faithful. She also coincidentally runs into Filippa again in a city street, discovering that Filippa is there trying to gather more evidence, and that she has found a clue that leads to Jiuseppe Zuccare, the head of a noble family in Quinizelle.

The Zuccare family are the most prominent practitioners of the Torune faith in the city, personal friends with Reinaldus, and as it turns out, are funding Torunes who are harmed “defending” themselves against the Faithful. As an official visiting diplomat in the city, Ginnevra is invited to a Torune ceremony celebrating the birth of a new son in the Zuccare family, presided over by Reinaldus. During the ceremony, Reinaldus cuts his arms with a knife, only for his wounds to magically heal. Ginnevra is troubled, as she was taught that belief in the Dark Goddess can confer power on the Faithful, but that the Torunes are a pagan religion with their god, Torun, having no power or even being real. And yet, Reinaldus’s healing of his wounds did not appear to be in any way a trick.

Moreover, Ginnevra realizes that the banner of the Zuccare family has the same symbol as the document that Filippa had found. So it seems that the Zuccare family may not only be tied to the assassination of Lady Dianetta and the framing of her old captain, but also to the current religious strife spreading in the city. But what is Reinaldus’s role in it all? And is the king himself involved? Ginnevra’s diplomatic mission has turned out to be more complicated than she expected, and likely heading for disaster. Will she and Eodan be able to unravel these multiple threads before the king makes a drastic decision concerning the Faithful, or worse, before the city erupts into open religious warfare?

I really adore this series and Melissa McShane’s writing here. I think what I like best is how the characters have room to breathe and grow. Even Ginnevra and Eodan, the heroes, as good-hearted as they are, make mistakes. And many secondary characters in this book that appear at first to be villains or unhelpful turn out to show unexpected nobility, while others who should be good turn out to have unexpected but plausible weaknesses or flaws. McShane is also an expert at weaving multiple plot threads together. There’s an entire subplot I didn’t mention revolving around Eodan treating the king’s wife, Queen Benitta, for infertility, as she’s produced no heir. But he discovers a secret about her and another about the king that seem at first to be minor points, but later have a major bearing on the plot.

If you’ve already started this series, perhaps based on my earlier positive reviews of the first two books, I highly recommend continuing with Shades of the Past. And if you haven’t, and find the idea of a cozy mystery series set in a fantasy world with werewolves and evil wizards to be appealing, go back and start with Silver and Shadow. I am almost certain to come back and read the next book in this series in the coming months.