Thieves' Quarry

A conjurer in Colonial Boston investigates when magic is suspected in a mass killing of British sailors in this fantasy sequel to Thieftaker.

Ethan Kaille isn't the likeliest hero. A former sailor with a troubled past, Ethan is a thieftaker, using conjuring skills to hunt down those who steal from the good citizens of Boston. And while chasing down miscreants in 1768 makes his life a perilous one, the simmering political tensions between loyalists like himself and rabble-rousing revolutionaries like Samuel Adams and others of his ilk are perhaps even more dangerous to his health.

When one hundred sailors of King George III's Royal Navy are mysteriously killed on a ship in Boston Harbor, Ethan is thrust into dire peril. The city sheriff suspects conjuring was used in the crime, but even Ethan is daunted by the notion of magic powerful enough to fell so many in a single stroke. Making his investigation more difficult is the British fleet’s occupation of the city after a series of the colonials’ violent protests. Kaille will need all his own magic, street smarts, and a bit of luck to keep this massacre from giving the hotheads of Colonial Boston an excuse for inciting a riot—or worse.

Thieves' Quarry is a stunning second novel in D. B. Jackson's Thieftaker Chronicles.

“At once a gripping historical mystery and an inventive urban-style fantasy, the book should appeal to a wide spectrum of readers. Jackson, who has a PhD in American history, does an excellent job of making us feel like we’re in Boston not long before the War of Independence. More Ethan Kaille adventures would be most welcome.” —Booklist