Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard. 431 p.A pretty interesting setting for a fantasy/mystery mashup: the Aztec empire, in which priests of the various gods can perform magic so long as they know the proper rituals and provide the proper sacrifices. Acatl, High Priest of the god of the dead, is put in charge of finding a missing--possibly murdered--priestess. The main suspect, found in the woman's room covered in blood, is Acatl's brother, from whom he has been estranged. Plus, the emperor is in very poor health, which complicates the political situation. And Acatl hates politics.
This isn't the kind of mystery story where you can figure out the solution if you pay attention to the clues; a lot of crucial information is obtained through divination. The setting is very cool, though, and I'll likely pick up the second book when it comes out. And I enjoyed the author's extensive notes at the end, especially when she talked about trying to balance realism versus ease of use when naming her characters.
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