Shadows Linger

The Black Company, a mercenary brotherhood in the service of the Lady, is ordered to the Barrowland. A small detachment goes ahead to Juniper, a poor port in the far north, locked in ice. Croaker, the Company's physician and annalist, leads it.

Juniper seals its dead in vast catacombs. Outside the city a black castle is growing, and the people inside it pay for fresh bodies. The Lady's wizards suspect the Dominator, her imprisoned husband, of using it to break free.

Croaker investigates like a hard-boiled detective, tracing who supplies the castle. The city itself is seen through Marron Shed, who keeps the Iron Lily inn. He is frightened and deep in debt, and his bad choices drive much of what happens.

Two more figures are concealed in Juniper: Raven, who has deserted the Company, and Darling, a girl the Company saved in the first book.

This is the second Black Company novel, and it leaves the Company's wars behind for a dark, bleak, noir mood. It sits in the middle of the series and leads toward The White Rose.