Being trapped onboard a ship with an unknown murderer is a frightening enough prospect on its own, without adding powerful magic to the mix. Luckily Maud Blyth is just as undaunted in the face of overwhelming odds as her brother Robin. I just reviewed A Marvellous Light, Book 1 in Freya Marske’s The Last Binding trilogy, the other week and went straight from finishing that one to reading the sequel. A Restless Truth, the second book in this fantasy romance series came out at the beginning of November.
Maud Blyth has been sent by her brother across the Atlantic to find an old woman who possesses part of the magical Last Contract and warn her that she is in danger from a group of powerful magicians who want the Last Contract for their own purposes. However, Maud’s warning fails to prevent Mrs. Navenby from being murdered on the very first day of their voyage back to Britain. The old woman is found dead in her stateroom, and Maud is left trapped aboard the ship with her murderer for the next week and with no idea which of Mrs. Navenby’s belongings conceal the disguised piece of the Contract. All Maud has to work with are the vague drawings and notes from her brother’s visions, which seem to hint at important moments and people aboard the ship. Armed with these predictions and her own innate boldness, Maud sets out to play detective while trying not to attract the attention of either the murderer or the non-magical authorities on board. She gathers allies to her clause, including an enterprising jewel thief, the haughty and powerful Lord Hawthorne, and an actress-turned-heiress named Violet, who delights in causing scandal. Scandal might be just what Maud needs in her (up until now) quiet and sheltered life. But even as Maud gains an enlightening education on pursuing her own desires, she doesn’t lose sight of her larger goal: finding the missing piece of the Contract and keeping it from falling into the wrong hands.
A Restless Truth plays with a classic plot from the murder mystery genre: a shipboard murder, where the murderer, investigators, and more potential victims are trapped together in an isolated setting for an extended period of time. This premise has been used in books ranging from Agatha Christie’s 1937 classic Death on the Nile to modern thrillers like Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10. As a fan of detective novels (a newly burgeoning genre in the era when this book is set) Maud shows a certain amount of genre savvy. Upon finding Mrs. Navenby’s body, Maud immediately thinks of the mystery novels she’s read and tries to imitate their star detectives by coming up with logical, systematic ways to search for clues. Self-taught and studious, Maud gets all her best education from books and gets a thrill whenever she can apply this knowledge in real life. Eventually, however, she must leave her book-learning behind and learn to trust her instincts once the stakes get higher and she finds herself facing threats of violence and imminent danger.
In addition to being an action-filled murder mystery/thriller, A Restless Truth—like A Marvellous Light—is a nuanced and thoughtful queer romance. Interestingly, while the first book in this series featured an m/m romance, this love story is f/f and centers on Maud Blyth’s queer awakening. Though romantic relationships, especially relationships with women, are new to Maud, this newness isn’t the central conflict. In fact, Maud is ready to dive headfirst into new experiences, but both she and Violet have deep-seated fears that they need to unpack in order to truly open themselves up to each other. As Violet points out several times throughout the book, Maud is particularly good at recognizing the fears and weaknesses of others—a skill which Maud’s manipulative mother had used to hurt others, but which Maud does unthinkingly in her attempt to fully understand the people she cares about. She discovers pretty quickly that Violet—who became an actress to run away from her past—is afraid of being honest and of showing her true self without putting on a performance. Maud, on the other hand, is radically honest, but she fears becoming like her parents, wondering if deep down—despite her deliberate choices to do the opposite of what they would do—she might not actually be a good person. Maud must wrestle with the conflict between refusing to act selfishly while still pursuing what she wants. Maud and Violet’s relationship blossoms quickly over the course of their seven-day voyage, which is mostly spent investigating a murder and trying to outwit their enemies, yet they still make time to explore the most hidden parts of themselves and each other.
A Restless Truth can be read with or without having read A Marvellous Light, though I have been truly enjoying the whole series. You can find A Restless Truth on shelves now at your favorite local retailer, or buy it online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. If you’ve already read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments!