The Witness for the Dead
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 Cover of first edition | |
| Author | Katherine Addison |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Liam Gerrard |
| Language | English |
| Series | Cemeteries of Amalo #1 |
| Genre | Fantasy of manners |
| Publisher | Tom Doherty Associates |
Publication date | June 22, 2021 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 240 |
| ISBN | 978-0765387424 (hardcover 1st ed) |
| OCLC | 1191199581 |
| 813/.6 | |
| LC Class | PS3601.D4655 W58 2021 |
| Preceded by | The Goblin Emperor |
| Followed by | The Grief of Stones |
The Witness for the Dead is a fantasy novel written by the American author Sarah Monette under the pseudonym Katherine Addison, set in the same world as her earlier novel The Goblin Emperor. The book was first published in hardcover and ebook by Tor Books in June 2021, with an audio version issued simultaneously by MacMillan Audio and narrated by Liam Gerrard; a British edition was issued in trade paperback and ebook by Solaris in July of the same year with Liam Gerrard again narrating the audiobook.[1] The novel was well-received by critics.
In the wake of his service for the emperor, the formerly disgraced Prelate of Ulis and Witness for the Dead, Thara Celehar resumes his duties in the city of Amalo, far from Court. Through his ability to communicate with the recently dead he resolves inheritance disputes, identifies nameless murder victims, and is sometimes able to bring justice to the latter by identifying their killers.
Currently, while trying to find a woman who has vanished, possibly killed by her husband, he is presented with a new case, discovering the identity of a recent drowning victim. The body turns out to be that of a popular but unsavory opera singer whose selfishness, thievery, penchant for blackmail and exploitation of her patrons has left scores of possible suspects. The missing woman, meanwhile, is found to be but the latest of several victims of an elusive serial killer who has been marrying and murdering heiresses for their fortunes.
Progress on these cases is stalled when Thara is tasked with resolving the matter of a forged will, and earns the enmity of the politically influential forger. For his own safety, the city's prince sends him out of town to deal with a ghoul manifestation in a remote village. Afterwards a trial by ordeal in the form of a night vigil in a haunted ruin clears Thara's political difficulties. In the course of these events he also reconciles an estranged grandfather and granddaughter and is called on to help investigate an airship explosion.
Finally the serial wife-slayer is found and arrested, while the issue of the will fortuitously leads to identification of the opera singer's killer. Thara himself, as a result of his interactions with the living necessitated by his witnessing for the dead, is able to resolve some issues from his past that have left him guilt-ridden and socially isolated.
