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Precinct #4
Gryphon Precinct
"Dungeons and Dragnet... As a take-off of the standard crime drama, Dragon Precinct succeeds nicely. Dressed in sword-and-sorcery trappings, the clichés of the genre are given a fresh twist."
—The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society Authors and Editors
Humans and elves, dwarves and gnomes, wizards and warriors all live and do business in the thriving, overcrowded port city of Cliff's End, to say nothing of the tourists and travelers who arrive by land and sea, passing through the metropolis on matters of business or pleasure—or on quests. The hard-working, under-appreciated officers of the Cliff's End Castle Guard work day and night to maintain law and order as best they can.
Cliff's End is rocked by the death of Lord Albin. As soon as the funeral ends, Albin's son Blayk takes over and starts instituting wholesale changes in how the Cliff's End Castle Guard is run: enforced retirements of older guards (including Captain Osric), surprise promotions (including Grovis to replace Osric as Captain of the Guard), sword requalifications for all guards, and much more.
Worse, Blayk has split up Lieutenants Torin ban Wyvald and Danthres Tresyllione and given them new partners. Lieutenant Dru, still devastated by the loss of Lieutenant Hawk, also has a new partner. All three detectives catch separate cases, but the more they investigate, the more they realize that all three are related—and connected to a conspiracy that targets the King and Queen themselves!
An all-new adventure of the Cliff's End Castle Guard!
"Unicorn Precinct is a fantastical, funny twist on the traditional murder mystery, with many likable characters and enough twists and turns to keep things interesting."
—Sci-Fi Bulletin
200 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2013
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106 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 13, 2019
After reading this i wanted more from this world . From the first book to this one was a fun ride . I still have questions ,What happens next ?
August 23, 2025
A fun and thrilling romp through the world of political conspiracy. My favourite one of these books yet 📚
November 24, 2021
Audiobook, reader Michael Page; excellent.
Whimsical fun, quite enjoyable listen.
The last audiobook alas, free with audible so not sure if I will get to the end of the exploits. :-(
Whimsical fun, quite enjoyable listen.
The last audiobook alas, free with audible so not sure if I will get to the end of the exploits. :-(
May 21, 2023
Another cracking fantastic whimsical fantasy read, a well-crafted story and adventure with the Castle Guard of Cliff's End, and their investigative team of detective lieutenants.
Gryphon Precinct is the fourth book in the Dragon Precinct series. I absolutely love these books. They are hilarious and fun, and the character development is quite excellent.
In this book, there are big changes coming to the Gaurds of Cliff’s End, some for the better, some not. Dark secrets are unearthed, connections discovered that could rock the city-state to its core after the Lord of Cliff’s End is found dead.
When our two best detectives, the half-elf Danthres Tresyllione and the ex-soldier Torin ban Wyvald, are summoned by the Lady of Cliff’s End, the Lords wife who is suspicious of her husbands sudden death. They are put on the case to find out what happened to their lord, leading them to uncover very dark plots.
If you enjoy your fantasy novels with lots of twists and turns and enjoy police procedurals, you will love this series. Highly recommended...😁💙🔥🗡🧙♂️🧝♂️
Gryphon Precinct is the fourth book in the Dragon Precinct series. I absolutely love these books. They are hilarious and fun, and the character development is quite excellent.
In this book, there are big changes coming to the Gaurds of Cliff’s End, some for the better, some not. Dark secrets are unearthed, connections discovered that could rock the city-state to its core after the Lord of Cliff’s End is found dead.
When our two best detectives, the half-elf Danthres Tresyllione and the ex-soldier Torin ban Wyvald, are summoned by the Lady of Cliff’s End, the Lords wife who is suspicious of her husbands sudden death. They are put on the case to find out what happened to their lord, leading them to uncover very dark plots.
If you enjoy your fantasy novels with lots of twists and turns and enjoy police procedurals, you will love this series. Highly recommended...😁💙🔥🗡🧙♂️🧝♂️
October 3, 2025
Gryphon Precinct is the fourth book in the Precinct series, and possibly my favorite so far. Following the death of Lord Albin his son takes over as lord of Cliffs End and immediately begins making changes to the Castle Guard, retiring the captain and splitting up longtime partners Danthres and Torin. Despite the changes to the guard, and the difficulties they produce the detectives still manage to bring justice to Cliffs End
January 7, 2024
Politics, dressed up as righteousness.
A rather sad little tale on the importance of being Earnest. Sorry, I meant on the importance of having your comrades' back. It doesn't work for me, since several of the recurring characters are acting out of character.
But it does give us some more worldbuilding.
And the short bonus story is good.
A rather sad little tale on the importance of being Earnest. Sorry, I meant on the importance of having your comrades' back. It doesn't work for me, since several of the recurring characters are acting out of character.
But it does give us some more worldbuilding.
And the short bonus story is good.
June 21, 2019
This is proving to be a very entertaining series. I look forward to seeing where the author is taking things.
November 15, 2020
This is too short as well despite the short story added to the end, but I did like the twist at the end of the main story. It will be interesting to see how the author develops it.
October 27, 2025
16. Still has echoes of Terry Pratchett but it was a quick little read and enjoyable.
June 7, 2015
The latest installment of Keith RA DeCandido's fantasy world police procedural series picks up from the cliffhanger in the previous volume. Actually, it picks up shortly before the cliffhanger, so it isn't necessary to have read that book (although it is a good idea). This book sees major change coming to the Castle Guard of Cliff's End, with some characters departing, and new characters joining.
As always, what helps make these books great is, while the investigative process is straight out of a regular procedural story, the fantasy elements are necessary components. This isn't just an 87th Precinct mystery with guns changed to swords, and half the characters being described as elves or dwarves. The magic is an integral element to the story.
This volume also gets more into the background of some of the characters, particularly half-human/half-elf Danthres. For me, this is the sort of thing that keeps me coming back to ongoing procedural series: come for the mystery, stay for the ongoing character development from book to book. DeCandido's writing style continues to be light, breezy and fun, but he communicates a great deal of depth and emotion as well. He has created a workplace community of interesting, likable characters and placed them in a setting that allows for some fantastical, fascinating twists on the standard police stories. Dragon Precinct continues to be one of my favorite series, and while I know we should eventually get at least one more novel in the series, I hope it continues for years to come. Especially if it continues to twist and surprise me like this volume did.
As always, what helps make these books great is, while the investigative process is straight out of a regular procedural story, the fantasy elements are necessary components. This isn't just an 87th Precinct mystery with guns changed to swords, and half the characters being described as elves or dwarves. The magic is an integral element to the story.
This volume also gets more into the background of some of the characters, particularly half-human/half-elf Danthres. For me, this is the sort of thing that keeps me coming back to ongoing procedural series: come for the mystery, stay for the ongoing character development from book to book. DeCandido's writing style continues to be light, breezy and fun, but he communicates a great deal of depth and emotion as well. He has created a workplace community of interesting, likable characters and placed them in a setting that allows for some fantastical, fascinating twists on the standard police stories. Dragon Precinct continues to be one of my favorite series, and while I know we should eventually get at least one more novel in the series, I hope it continues for years to come. Especially if it continues to twist and surprise me like this volume did.
May 13, 2019
Great ending to the series as it stands now. Overall had huge reservations with how Keith developed one of his characters you have gotten to know throughout his books, but in the end all was well that ended well. If you have read the previous 3, you have no reason to not read the 4th.
Looking forward to Mermaid Precinct!
Looking forward to Mermaid Precinct!
August 9, 2018
This series, originally published by Ace when originally released, is an excellent example of a police procedural in a fantasy setting - sort of like Ed McBain 87th Precinct novels, but with swords and magic.
Also, I built a fan site for it!
http://medinnus.com/flingaria/index.html
Also, I built a fan site for it!
http://medinnus.com/flingaria/index.html
September 8, 2022
I really have enjoyed this whole series of books, which are basically murder mysteries set in a fantastical land. Great characters, and interesting mysteries. This is book 4, and I'm really hoping there will be more.
February 28, 2016
great work
February 12, 2020
This is the best adventure in Cliff's End yet. It really kept me turning pages. Looking forward to the next installment!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews