The Sword-Edged Blonde

It should have been a case like any other: a missing princess, a king willing to pay in gold for her return. But before he realizes it, private investigator Eddie LaCrosse, a slightly shopworn sword jockey with a talent for discretion and detection, is swept up in a web of mystery and deceit involving a brutally murdered royal heir, a queen accused of an unspeakable crime, and the tragic past he thought he'd left behind. From newcomer Alex Bledsoe comes The Sword-Edged Blonde, a stunning fusion of high fantasy and gritty noir realism. In a world where twisted criminal masterminds and femmes fatales stand side by side with wizards, kings, and priestesses, Eddie LaCrosse is a hardboiled hero, a fantasy Philip Marlowe, a swords and sorcery Sam Spade. In order to uncover the answers he seeks, Eddie must delve into the dark underbelly of society while digging deep into his own private history, drawing past and present together. Vast conspiracies, women both beautiful and deadly, and a centuries-old revenge scheme are only a few of the pieces in a lethal puzzle. In the spirit of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, and Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. novels, The Sword-Edged Blonde is a tour-de-force foray into a realm of action, intrigue, and murder.