Cobweb Bride

The ruritanian kingdom of Lethe, nestled between Spain and France, is denied Death’s services until he is provided with his Cobweb Bride. Death’s absence does not mean freedom from those things that should kill, only from the release of mortality itself. As the mortally sick and grievously injured languish, women from all over Lethe reluctantly offer themselves as Death’s bride; unloved Percy is one such volunteer. Not everyone dislikes the deathless state of affairs; the “reeking corpse” of the late Duke Hoarfrost has no intention of abandoning his power merely because he should be dead, and as the migrating brides soon discover, the duke is willing to go to great extremes to keep Death retired. Norilana-owner Nazarian (Mansfield Park and Mummies) writes clean and true prose, but despite Percy’s pluck and the laudable zeal with which the grasping duke chews the scenery, the story is a bit too familiar and not especially engaging. (July)