#40 The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

 

Happenchance finds Cleric Chih traveling with a young bride and her family on the way to a wedding.  The only odd thing is their constant companion, the neixin Almost Brilliant is missing.  The arrival of the party is interrupted by the adult son of the groom telling the family to ask how many wives the groom has had before.  Nhung and the Cleric are soon exploring the grounds and finding things that point to some mystery about Lord Guo.  By the third evening everything comes to a head and the story wraps up into a great conclusion.  I hate to say any more lest I ruin the surprises. It certainly merits a reread to see the clues that were sprinkled in the story and might have been missed the first time.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss