I love tales of subterranean cities. Like Charles R. Tanner’s fabulous Tumithak pulp adventure tales, Gary Gygax’s famous Drow enclave Erelhei-Cinlu, R.A. Salvatore’s Menzoberranzan, and… uh, that’s it, really. My love is fierce, but lonely.

At least it was, until Carrie Patel came along with her novels of the fantastical, gaslit underground city of Recoletta, where the last remnants of mankind huddle after a mysterious apocalypse. There have been two novels so far, and the third is due in paperback next month from Angry Robot.

The Buried Life (359 pages, March 6, 2015)
Cities and Thrones (448 pages, July 7, 2015)
The Song of the Dead (448 pages, May 2, 2017)

All three books are priced at $7.99 in paperback and $6.99 for the digital edition. The covers are by John Coulthart.

[Click the images for bigger versions.]

Cherie Priest called The Buried Life “A dark, imaginative steampunk gem – tailor-made for mystery fans and history nerds alike, with plenty of cops-and-robbers to keep you on your toes… a very fine contribution to the genre.” And The Guardian called it “A cracking whodunnit with sufficient twists and turns to make Agatha Christie proud.”

Here’s the description for The Buried Life for you latecomers:

The gaslight and shadows of the underground city of Recoletta hide secrets and lies. When Inspector Liesl Malone investigates the murder of a renowned historian, she finds herself stonewalled by the all-powerful Directorate of Preservation – Recoletta’s top-secret historical research facility.

When a second high-profile murder threatens the very fabric of city society, Malone and her rookie partner Rafe Sundar must tread carefully, lest they fall victim to not only the criminals they seek, but the government which purports to protect them. Knowledge is power, and power must be preserved at all costs…

We covered the first two books in the series here.

Read a 40-page excerpt from The Buried Life here (click on the “Excerpt” tag at the bottom of the page).

See all our recent coverage of the best in Series fantasy here.