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Markhat #7
Brown River Queen
When the banshee howls, start looking for the lifeboats.
The Markhat Files , Book 7
Take a simple, three-day cruise on a lavish steamboat casino, they said. Just keep an eye out for trouble while the Regent rolls the dice, they said.
Markhat should have known the maiden voyage of Avalante’s vampire-crewed Brown River Queen would be anything but a finder’s dream job. Especially when he charges a ridiculous fee—and gets it without a peep of protest.
Then a pair of identical murderous maidens attack him and his lady love, and it doesn’t take a banshee’s howl to confirm his sinking suspicion he’s about to earn his fee the hard way.
As the heavily guarded steamboat casts off, Markhat is forced to navigate shoals of old enemies, treacherous political undercurrents, and rogue waves of assassins. All to keep the walking dead from turning the Brown River Queen’s decks red with blood.
This is a work of fiction. Please stop trying to apply it as a cream directly to your forehead. The characters depicted herein are quite real despite this disclaimer and will be deeply hurt if you peek ahead to the ending. This prose is certified gluten-free. Not intended as an emergency substitute Flight Manual, no matter what the nerds at Popular Mechanics claim.
The Markhat Files , Book 7
Take a simple, three-day cruise on a lavish steamboat casino, they said. Just keep an eye out for trouble while the Regent rolls the dice, they said.
Markhat should have known the maiden voyage of Avalante’s vampire-crewed Brown River Queen would be anything but a finder’s dream job. Especially when he charges a ridiculous fee—and gets it without a peep of protest.
Then a pair of identical murderous maidens attack him and his lady love, and it doesn’t take a banshee’s howl to confirm his sinking suspicion he’s about to earn his fee the hard way.
As the heavily guarded steamboat casts off, Markhat is forced to navigate shoals of old enemies, treacherous political undercurrents, and rogue waves of assassins. All to keep the walking dead from turning the Brown River Queen’s decks red with blood.
This is a work of fiction. Please stop trying to apply it as a cream directly to your forehead. The characters depicted herein are quite real despite this disclaimer and will be deeply hurt if you peek ahead to the ending. This prose is certified gluten-free. Not intended as an emergency substitute Flight Manual, no matter what the nerds at Popular Mechanics claim.
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 2013
7 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 24, 2013
New rating system, based on the Ability to Distract While Flying:
1-star: consumed with thoughts of dying in a fiery crash
2-star: able to read a page or two at a time but pause to wish that Captain Sully was in the cockpit.
3-star: able to read but distracted by the high-pitched voice of the child three rows in front of me and wishing for earplugs
4-star: only able to be interrupted by stewards bearing drinks
5-star: What? Where? Go away, I'm busy.
Brown River Queen is a five star--so amazingly fun that I was actually annoyed when we touched down--I only had 30 or so pages to finish, I really wanted to know the ending, and didn't think my hostess would appreciate me forbidding her from talking while I read. It completely absorbed me during the puddle-jumper flight from Madison to New York. The roar of the engines (of course, seated in the back), people brushing by to use the restroom, the drying air--all faded away as I read. I was on a gambling steamboat on the Brown River, with Markhat, his assistant, his wife Darla and his vampire friend Evis.
Markhat is hired for an exorbitant fee to protect A Notable Personage during the inaugural trip of the first-ever steamboat down the Brown River. Unfortunately, Markhat seems to be the target of assassination himself, so its questionable how much he can protect anybody. He and Evis are desperate enough to seek help, but the unpredictable Corpsemaster is nowhere to be found. The little band might be on their own, with only Mama Hog and Buttercup the Banshee as backup.
I thought the story elements blended well; the feeling of looming threat, the actual danger scenes, the unsettled politics of the city as backdrop, the horror of the mysterious deaths. As always, I enjoyed the balance of tension and humor and rarely felt that it impacted the emotional import of a scene. Never fear, Tuttle is sure to
A note for those not sure of what order--this book follows events of the preceding The Broken Bell, so read in order for those afeared of spoilers.
So what are you waiting for?
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
December 29, 2025
Excellent entry into the series. I just love these books.
longer review to come.
longer review to come.
July 15, 2013
Markhat is back! Evis and house Avalante hire Markhat to take a 3-day all expenses paid trip aboard the brand new river boat, The Brown River Queen. While enjoying everything that the ship has to offer (as well as his nice 1,000 crown commission) he is to do what he does best - uncover what is hidden. The story twists and turns and explodes at the end.
There is a great deal to like about this book. Like all the others it is great fun. I love the writing and Tuttle injects personality into his characters. I love the relationship between Darla and Markhat. I love the playfulness of Buttercup. I even love Mama and her caustic observations.
Unfortunately there is also a great deal about the book that left me unsatisfied. This was my least favorite of the Markhat books. This story felt very linear. I saw it all coming. Whereas the other Markhat books had twists and turns that always leave you guessing, I felt like this book's ending had been telegraphed.
Speaking of advanced technology .... that's my other gripe. I am completely fine with mixing technology and magic. Some guys have guns, some have magic. Sure. No problem. But it should hold together logically within the world that the author has built. This book fails on that front. A couple of years ago, crude cannons were highly secretive experiments hidden by the Regency. Now? In this book they used Gatling guns to kill baddies. Oh, and they are on a steam boat. And not a small one. They are on an honest to goodness river paddle boat similar to what you might have seen streaming up and down the Mississippi back in the day. My willingness to believe was stretched pretty thin - and, like Mulder on the X-Files, I want to believe!
Final note, this book does FINALLY let you know the identity of the Corpsemaster. I had been guessing (wrongly) for the past three books. Well done.
A solid three stars. I'd like to give it more but I really can't.
There is a great deal to like about this book. Like all the others it is great fun. I love the writing and Tuttle injects personality into his characters. I love the relationship between Darla and Markhat. I love the playfulness of Buttercup. I even love Mama and her caustic observations.
Unfortunately there is also a great deal about the book that left me unsatisfied. This was my least favorite of the Markhat books. This story felt very linear. I saw it all coming. Whereas the other Markhat books had twists and turns that always leave you guessing, I felt like this book's ending had been telegraphed.
Speaking of advanced technology .... that's my other gripe. I am completely fine with mixing technology and magic. Some guys have guns, some have magic. Sure. No problem. But it should hold together logically within the world that the author has built. This book fails on that front. A couple of years ago, crude cannons were highly secretive experiments hidden by the Regency. Now? In this book they used Gatling guns to kill baddies. Oh, and they are on a steam boat. And not a small one. They are on an honest to goodness river paddle boat similar to what you might have seen streaming up and down the Mississippi back in the day. My willingness to believe was stretched pretty thin - and, like Mulder on the X-Files, I want to believe!
Final note, this book does FINALLY let you know the identity of the Corpsemaster. I had been guessing (wrongly) for the past three books. Well done.
A solid three stars. I'd like to give it more but I really can't.
April 10, 2013
Fun, Fun, FUN. I love the relationships have evolved. The plot is quite intricate and filled with red herrings. I did not guess the culprit and his unveiling was genius.
March 19, 2018
As the dues ex machina that is the quick invention cycle of House Avalante we start moving from a Victorian setting in to a more Wild West setting. This may be off putting but trust me the stories more than make up for the abrupt shifts in development. In Brown River Queen we are treated to a mystery aboard a steam boat, named the same as the title of the book. As usual the thing that pulls Markhat's bacon out of the fire is something that he claims he doesn't believe in. While amusing at first, that trope is getting a little old, one can only suspend disbelief so much when a character has been shown that magic is real over and over and still doesn't believe certain parts of it because he hasn't seen it. That is, however, my only real complaint about the book.
While this is still a detective series the strength in the writing is really the relationships. Tuttle has done such an amazing job on all of them. He doesn't neglect the lives the characters have outside their interactions that manage to grace the pages of the book and he manages to create believable interactions between all of the characters that have a continuity between stories.
The dark events on the horizon and the darkness come before have started shaping the characters and not all in the same manner. Tuttle is able to write the subtleties of these changes so that every character reacts and changes in a manner that seems true to their nature. Make no mistake there is a heavy darkness on the horizon and its weight is pushing down on all of the characters. The detective bits are well done enough but the overall arc is heading down a dark path.
While I rated this one star lower than the past couple of books my interest in the series hasn't waned, in fact I am very excited for the next installment. I rather like a series that has a lot of books out when I finally discover it.
While this is still a detective series the strength in the writing is really the relationships. Tuttle has done such an amazing job on all of them. He doesn't neglect the lives the characters have outside their interactions that manage to grace the pages of the book and he manages to create believable interactions between all of the characters that have a continuity between stories.
The dark events on the horizon and the darkness come before have started shaping the characters and not all in the same manner. Tuttle is able to write the subtleties of these changes so that every character reacts and changes in a manner that seems true to their nature. Make no mistake there is a heavy darkness on the horizon and its weight is pushing down on all of the characters. The detective bits are well done enough but the overall arc is heading down a dark path.
While I rated this one star lower than the past couple of books my interest in the series hasn't waned, in fact I am very excited for the next installment. I rather like a series that has a lot of books out when I finally discover it.
May 20, 2013
Our hero, Markhat lovingly settled into domestic bliss with Darla is tasked with security on a river boat powered by the new steam technologies and carrying the Regent on a journey upriver. While awaiting the sailing date, he is viciously attacked by strange, smiling women barely surviving the assaults. Once the story moves to the steam boat we have a fantastical country house mystery which holds it's who-dunnit secret till the very end. Markhat ends up dealing with a hellmouth intent on devouring the world. How he does this, who his friends and allies are or are not, the wider politics, the question of whether a new war hanging over Rannit and her people along with the impact of the new gunpowder weapon technologies on the status quo... These are all present in the unravelling of the who is doing what to whom. Markhat is in top form as he brings his heart and pragmatism, intellect and loyalty to friends to bear on the events that risk all of them.
This is a story about a world in change and Markhat's place or power within that. I think this is a great installment in Markhat's story but it builds on and riffs off the books that have gone before. It can be read as a fantastical detective story alone but means so much more if you have read the other Markhat adventures. Not only will your sense of events be better but appreciation of Markhat, his friends and family and even the city of Rannit will be greater.
I like a lot of things about the writing in this story too. Exposition and information that is pretty complex and required to bring in the back story while setting up events is done gracefully.
I have a soft spot for Buttercup the child-like Banshee and the care and affection Markhat, Darla and everyone holds her in and how she returns that in her own inimitable way. I loved her presence in this story and the implied growth and change and emerging personality she is showing arising from their care. I think this is a great example of how all the characters from Mama Hogg to undead Evis are not only well drawn but realistic in their responses to events. they are changed by what they experience. While true to themselves from book to book they grow and adapt; time changing them as it does us all.
This is a story about a world in change and Markhat's place or power within that. I think this is a great installment in Markhat's story but it builds on and riffs off the books that have gone before. It can be read as a fantastical detective story alone but means so much more if you have read the other Markhat adventures. Not only will your sense of events be better but appreciation of Markhat, his friends and family and even the city of Rannit will be greater.
I like a lot of things about the writing in this story too. Exposition and information that is pretty complex and required to bring in the back story while setting up events is done gracefully.
I have a soft spot for Buttercup the child-like Banshee and the care and affection Markhat, Darla and everyone holds her in and how she returns that in her own inimitable way. I loved her presence in this story and the implied growth and change and emerging personality she is showing arising from their care. I think this is a great example of how all the characters from Mama Hogg to undead Evis are not only well drawn but realistic in their responses to events. they are changed by what they experience. While true to themselves from book to book they grow and adapt; time changing them as it does us all.
May 14, 2020
Delightful. A wonderfully well thought-out world, with tech just beginning to rise, with wonderful, varied, interesting characters, and an intense, enthralling story. I can't ask more of a book than that it yank me in and keep me turning pages eagerly. This did just that.
May 3, 2013
I really enjoy a good Markhat book and this one was another good one. I ripped through this one and am, once again, waiting for the next!
August 12, 2013
loved it! As usual Mr Tuttle does not disappoint.
April 23, 2017
4.5 stars. Love seeing Markhat's world expand even more, though I had mixed feelings about the resolution. This book puts the rest of the series in a slightly different light, making you reconsider any assumptions you've unconsciously built about this world's past.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews