Year of the Reaper
Plague and death haunt a medieval world where ghosts refuse to rest and mysteries refuse to be solved. A stranger arrives claiming to be the Reaper himself, and nothing will ever be the same. The year that follows is one of ghosts, secrets, and a presence that changes everything.
Everything You Need to Know About Year of the Reaper
Lord Cassia was an engineer's apprentice on a king's errand when enemy soldiers took him prisoner. Then the plague came, emptying his cell the hard way and nearly killing him too. Three years later Cas finally walks home to his family's castle in the mountains wanting only to forget, and finds the royal court has moved in, complete with old enemies. The long war is over, sealed by Queen Jehan's marriage. But when an assassin starts targeting the people closest to the queen, Cas is pulled into the hunt alongside Lena, a brilliant young historian, and the trail leads backward into a terrible secret. Cas also carries his own: since surviving the plague, he can see the dead.
Lucier writes atmosphere like few authors can. You feel the weight of plague, the paranoia of court, the strangeness of Cas's power. The mystery unfolds methodically, clues land, assumptions shatter, and by the end the solution is both shocking and inevitable. Cas is thoughtful and cautious, not reckless. The secondary characters have depth: they're not cardboard suspects. Pacing is meticulous. This reads like historical fiction with magical realism, not high fantasy.
Death (including child death), plague, violence, grief, references to disease and mass death. Not graphic but present.
Historical fantasy readers. Mystery lovers. Anyone who loved *The Bone Shard Daughter* or *Mexican Gothic*. If you want spice (S0), this isn't it, focus is entirely on plot and character. Skip if you need a romance arc or faster pacing.
Standalone. No planned sequels.
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