.cs57956BB{7.5pt;font-weight:normal;color:#333333;font-style:normal;verdana;} .cs13DCAC4{text-align:left;margin:12pt 0pt 12pt 0pt;line-height:1.15;text-indent:0pt} .cs1844654{text-align:left;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;line-height:1.15;text-indent:0pt} .cs95B300B{11pt;font-weight:normal;color:#000000;font-style:normal;Calibri;} .cs3388614{text-align:left;margin:0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;line-height:1.15;text-indent:0pt} .cs5DEFF7B{7.5pt;font-weight:bold;color:#333333;font-style:italic;verdana;}

She might win the throne. She might destroy an empire. Either way, it begins with murder.

After twenty-four years on the throne, it is time for Bersun the Brusque, emperor of Orrun, to bring his reign to an end. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders will compete to replace him.

Trained at rival monasteries, each contender is inspired by a sacred animal – Fox, Raven, Tiger, Ox, Bear, Monkey, and Hound. An eighth – the Dragon proxy – will be revealed only once the trials have begun. Eight exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists – the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to the brilliant but idiosyncratic Neema Kraa to investigate. But as she hunts for a killer, darker forces are gathering.

If Neema succeeds, she could win the throne – whether she wants it or not. But if she fails, she will sentence herself to death – and set in motion a sequence of events that could doom the empire . . .