Late Eclipses

Table of Contents

 

 

“The brisk pacing, the effective mix of human and magical characters, and the PI ambience all make this an excellent choice for fans of Butcher��s Harry Dresden series. . . . Toby’s unusual heritage and her uneasy relationships with her mother’s family will remind readers of Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series, and Thompson fans will appreciate Toby’s tough and self-reliant character. This outstanding first novel is a must for fans of genre-bending blends of crime and fantasy.”

—Booklist
starred review

 

“McGuire successfully blends Robert B. Parker-like detective fiction with love and loss, faith and betrayal—and plenty of violence....
Rosemary and Rue
will have readers clamoring for the next genre-bending installment.”

—
www.bookpage.com

 

“Well researched, sharply told, highly atmospheric and as brutal as any pulp detective tale ... sure to appeal to fans of Jim Butcher or Kim Harrison.”

“October Daye is as gritty and damaged a heroine as Kinsey Millhone or Kay Scarpetta . . . an engaging narrator who promises to sustain as long a series as McGuire might wish to write. . . . Toby’s nocturnal existence is full of the kind of shadows that keep the pages turning. Changelings, like all faerie folk, live long; may McGuire and these novels do the same.”

 

“Second in an urban fantasy detective series featuring a resourceful female detective, this sequel to
Rosemary and Rue
should appeal to fans of Jim Butcher’s
Dresden File
s as well as the novels of Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, and similar authors.”

 

“It’s fun watching [Toby] stick doggedly to the case as the killer picks off more victims and the tension mounts.”

 

“A gripping, well-paced read. Toby continues to be an enjoyable, if complex and strong-willed protagonist who recognizes no authority but her own. McGuire has more than a few surprises up her sleeve for the reader.”

—Romantic Times Book Review
(4 Stars)

ROSEMARY AND RUE

 

A LOCAL HABITATION

 

AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT

 

LATE ECLIPSES

 

ONE SALT SEA
(September 2011)

Copyright © 2011 by Seanan McGuire.

 

All Rights Reserved.

 

 

Interior dingbat created by Tara O’Shea.

 

DAW Book Collectors No. 1541.

 

DAW Books are distributed by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-50253-2

 

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

 

Nearly all the designs and trade names in this book are registered trademarks. All that are still in commercial use are protected by United States and international trademark law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Printing, March 2011

 

Late Eclipses
is the fourth of Toby’s adventures. You’d think it would be getting easier, right? I sure did. But the fact of the matter is, books remain a lot of work, no matter how many of them you write, and making them worth reading is the work of many hands. For me, those many hands begin with the faithful Machete Squad, a tireless team of heavily-armed and merciless editors who go through every chapter a dozen times before it becomes ready for prime time. Without them, I would be in a lot of trouble. Special thanks to Jennifer Midkiff, for scrupulous editorial attentions, and to Melissa Glasser, for being my “on-call vet” for weird questions about fae biology. Also, thanks to everyone at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival, who tolerantly allowed me to do copyedits during open filking.

On the publishing side of things, my agent, Diana Fox, saved my sanity and my sense of narrative on several occasions, all while continuing to rock like the superhero she is, and my editor, Sheila Gilbert, offered support, critique, and everything else a girl could possibly want. The rest of the team at DAW was just as fabulous, although special thanks go to Joshua Starr, who puts up with most of my random mid-week questions. Chris McGrath provided my fantastic cover, and Tara O’Shea provided my fantastic interior dingbat. I seriously could not have done this without them.

Here at home, my website was programmed and designed by Chris Mangum and Tara O’Shea, who gamely rose to every challenge I threw their way, even the insane ones. Kate Secor talked me through the big plot snarls, while her Tivo prevented me from destroying all mankind. Meanwhile, Michelle Dockrey and Brooke Lunderville helped me through everything else. Thanks to Tanya Huff, for San Diego, and to Jennifer Brozek, Jeanne Goldfein, and Cat Valente, for Melbourne. You guys made everything better. Finally, thanks to my cats, Lilly and Alice, for understanding that sometimes their monkey needs to stop petting them in order to type.

My personal soundtrack while writing
Late Eclipses
consisted mostly of
Promised Land
, by Dar Williams,
Little Voice
, by Sarah Bareilles, endless live concert recordings of the Counting Crows, and all of the soundtracks to
Glee.
Any errors in this book are entirely my own. The errors that aren’t here are the ones that all these people helped me fix.

Thank you all so much for reading. It means the world to me.

All pronunciations are given strictly phonetically. This only covers races explicitly named in the first four books.

 

Bannick:
ban-nick
. Plural is Bannicks.

Banshee:
ban-shee
. Plural is Banshees.

Barghest:
bar-guy-st
. Plural is Barghests.

Barrow Wight:
bar-row white
. Plural is Barrow Wights.

Blodynbryd:
blow-din-brid
. Plural is Blodynbryds.

Cait Sidhe:
kay-th shee
. Plural is Cait Sidhe.

Candela:
can-dee-la
. Plural is Candela.

Coblynau:
cob-lee-now
. Plural is Coblynau.

Cornish Pixie:
Corn-ish pix-ee
. Plural is Cornish Pixies.

Daoine Sidhe:
doon-ya shee
. Plural is Daoine Sidhe, diminutive is Daoine.

Djinn:
jin
. Plural is Djinn.

Dóchas Sidhe:
doe-sh-as shee
. Plural is Dóchas Sidhe.

Ellyllon:
el-lee-lawn
. Plural is Ellyllons.

Gean-Cannah:
gee-ann can-na
. Plural is Gean-Cannah.

Glastig:
glass-tig
. Plural is Glastigs.

Gwragen:
guh-war-a-gen
. Plural is Gwragen.

Hamadryad:
ha-ma-dry-add
. Plural is Hamadryads.

Hippocampus:
hip-po-cam-pus
. Plural is Hippocampi.

Hob:
hob
. Plural is Hobs.

Kelpie:
kel-pee
. Plural is Kelpies.

Kitsune:
kit-soo-nay
. Plural is Kitsune.

Lamia:
lay-me-a
. Plural is Lamia.

The Luidaeg:
the lou-sha-k
. No plural exists.

Manticore:
man-tee-core
. Plural is Manticores.

Naiad:
nigh-add
. Plural is Naiads.

Nixie:
nix-ee
. Plural is Nixen.

Peri:
pear-ee
. Plural is Peri.

Piskie:
piss-key
. Plural is Piskies.