History Literature / TheCemeteriesOfAmalo

* TakingYouWithMe: When [[spoiler:Anveena Renthelar is caught and charged with murder and aiding the pornography ring]] he endeavors to implicate as many people as he can remember in their schemes. Whether he's hoping to avoid a death sentence, is honestly contrite, just acting out of spite, or some confused muddle of the three is not clarified.

* SecretIngredient: Not all of Thara's petitioners are interested in solving murders, and one in ''The Grief of the Stones'' is a baker who wants to find out the secret ingredient for his recently deceased business partner's prized scones.

* LoopholeAbuse: A witness for the dead is sworn to help any who come to them asking for their aide on behalf of the deceased. While it's ''traditional'' for a family member or close acquaintance to be the one to request their services, there is nothing preventing a witness's friend from petitioning them on behalf of a lonely orphan girl who died under mysterious circumstances, even if the two had never met before.

* CrusadingWidow: The first mystery in ''The Grief of the Stones'' involves an aristocrat who rightfully believes his wife of fifty years and only source of happiness has been murdered and passionately requests official action to avenge her. [[spoiler:After the killer's trial and conviction, he commits suicide due to feeling he has nothing left to live for.]]

No sooner does he arrive in Amalo that he finds himself unwelcome by the local CorruptChurch, involved in murders that he must solve, as well as constantly having his abilities as a medium challenged. It doesn't help that supernatural horrors like ghouls, ghosts, and other creatures are very real as well as prone to haunting the living. Both figuratively as well as literally.

Thara's simple, straight-forward devotion to his god as well as skill at logical reasoning give him an edge in solving the various crimes he encounters as well as navigating the complex politics of the city. While not as prone to making friends as Emperor Maia, he soon develops a number of contacts that give him an edge more valuable than his power to summon the spirits of the dead

The series so far consists of ''The Witness For The Dead'' (June 2021), and a sequel, ''The Grief of Stones'', released in June 2022. The third book, ''[[https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2021/07/author-spotlight-katherine-addison-the-goblin-emperor/ The Tomb of Dragons]],'' does not yet have a release date.

* WorthlessTreasureTwist: An unhinged woman briefly takes Celehar captive and compels him to help her find the treasure hidden in a haunted catacomb. [[spoiler:If she hadn't been killed by a vengeful spirit on the way there, she would have been disappointed to learn that the famous treasure was in fact the first hand chronicles of a banned heretical sect. PlayedWith, as the city's historians are thrilled with the discovery and strong arm their university into taking responsibility for the site at some considerable expense.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: When one of their victim's unwisely talks about how she'll [[spoiler:expose their child pornography ring, Renthelar and Temin murder her by throwing her off a bridge]].

* HunterOfMonsters: One of the many duties of a witness for the dead is to respond to ghouls rising from the grave and put the spirits inhabiting the recently dead to rest to stop them from acting on their hunger for human flesh. In the first book, a local churchmen without the ability to speak to the dead attempts to defeat a ghoul by himself before a witness can arrive, which ends badly for him.

---> '''Lawyer reading the will''': And to [[spoiler:our grandson, Tura Olora, child of our favorite child Daleno, we leave five thousand muranai. [[note]]A bit over a years wages[[/note]]]]

* ExactWords: When challenged on who he found to witness for [[spoiler:an orphaned girl, Celehar replies "We found a friend". The implication being a friend ''of the girl'' requested his services as a Witness, but in fact it was a friend of Celehar's who was outraged that a murder investigation might not proceed simply because of a technicality of custom.]]

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: There are several varieties of ghosts in the books. The most commented on ones are the two thousand year old ghosts on the Hill of Werewolves that replay their deaths every night and [[spoiler:a vengeful specter created by those same priests using elf-sacrificial DarkMagic to guard their hidden compound]]. There are also the spirits of stillborn children that haunt their mothers and sap their life, and the city's catacombs are forever short-staffed due to the dozens of minor hauntings that infest the tunnels and cause mischief.

* LoopholeAbuse: A witness for the dead is sworn to help any who come to them asking for their aide. While it's ''traditional'' for a family member or close acquaintance to be the one to request their services, there is nothing preventing a witness's friend from petitioning them on behalf of a lonely orphan girl who died under mysterious circumstances, even if the two had never met before.

* SpotOfTea: Thara Celehar is a big tea drinker, and teahouses are an important part of Amalo's culture.

* CrusadingWidower: The first mystery in ''The Grief of the Stones'' involves an aristocrat who rightfully believes his wife of fifty years and only source of happiness has been murdered and passionately requests official action to avenge her. [[spoiler:After the killer's trial and conviction, he commits suicide due to feeling he has nothing left to live for.]]