Murder In Cormyr

Tired of the political machinations of his egotistical fellow wizards, Benelaius retires from the College of War Wizards to take up residency in Cormyr, where he lives peacefully until he and his legman, Jasper, are forced to investigate the murder of a messenger from King Azoun.

From the FORGOTTEN REALMS series, a fantasy novel in which a petty criminal who tries to pass himself off as a wizard discovers that he has attracted the attentions of an assassin.

The epic historical saga of the most powerful nation in the Forgotten Realms— as told by the world's co-creators Aided and abetted by a powerful family of wizards, the Obarskyr family has ruled Cormyr since its inception one and a half millennia ago. Now, Cormyr's benevolent king, Azoun IV, lies overcome by a deadly malady from which he may not recover. When the vultures begin to circle, hoping to usurp the throne for their own, many question the loyalty of the king’s wizard and advisor, Vangerdahast. It is against this crisis of state that the history of the Forest Kingdom unfolds, relaying the previously untold story of a nation, its rulers, and its wizards.

When the Lord of Tarsis finds himself with a politically volatile murder on his hands, he turns to the three most expendable inhabitants of the city for a solution.

The creator of the Forgotten Realms leads readers through a rollicking fantasy adventure and murder mystery set in the city of Waterdeep Revealed in death to have been Masked Lords, three more citizens had been murdered over the preceding day and night: the Sembian wine-seller and collector Oszbur Malankar; the half-elf sorceress and artisan Dathanscza Meiril; and the moneylender, landlord, and investor Ammasker Gwelt. All of Waterdeep now knew someone was killing the Lords of Waterdeep, one by one. Yet that was about where truth ended and speculation—however plausible—began. The broadsheets were full of wild conjecture. Who's behind this? The ousted Lord Neverember? The Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dragon or some other Outland Power? The Xanathar? Some cabal of guilds or nobles planning a coup? The rumors would rage on, whether the Open Lord Laeral Silverhand did something or not. That was the trouble with rumors; once loosed, they roamed free like snarling, untamed beasts, with no simple way of stopping them. And all rumors aside, Waterdeep has become . . . a City of Murderers. Death Masks is loosely connected to the Elminster series and Sage of Shadowdale series.

Rumors race around Cormyr regarding the mythical Lost Spell, a powerful enchantment designed centuries ago by the presumed dead god of spells—a spell long thought lost to the ages. Found by some magic-less merchant, rumor has it the Lost Spell is to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. It is a powerful lure, and archwizards of every stripe descend upon the merchant, only to be trapped with him inside his manor by a vicious spellstorm—escape impossible, and their magic useless with the interference from the storm. Moreover—they find themselves faced with the infamous Elminster of Shadowdale, who claims he’s just there to decide who gets the Lost Spell, but who clearly has an agenda of his own. But before Elimster can put whatever plan he has in motion, archwizards start dying.

02 Who killed Ambassador Bloodarrow? When the Lord of Tarsis finds himself with a politically volatile murder on his hands, he turns to the three most expendable inhabitants of the city of a solution. A mercenary, a poet-assassin, and a thief might not be everyone's first choice for detectives. But they find they're quite good at bringing murderers to justice. Perhaps a little too good . . . Who killed Ambassador Bloodarrow? When the Lord of Tarsis finds himself with a politically volatile murder on his hands, he turns to the three most expendable inhabitants of the city of a solution. A mercenary, a poet-assassin, and a thief might not be everyone's first choice for detectives. But they find they're quite good at bringing murderers to justice. Perhaps a little too good . . .

A collection of celebrity interviews in homage to Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forry Ackerman, including Joe Moe, Dr. Mangor, Fred Olen Ray, Count Gore Devol, Lucy Hell, Don Calfa, Jason Paul Collum, and Sara Karloff, with an introduction by the late Ingrid Pitt.