[HarryT]

Just finished "Thraxas" by Martin Scott. A re-read of an old favourite. The first in a series.

Thraxas is a failed sorceror (he was thrown out for being a drunkard), former mercenary, and not very successful private investigator who operates out of an upstairs room at "The Avenging Axe", an inn owned by his old friend Gurd the (retired) barbarian. He's the cheapest PI in the hopelessly corrupt city of Turai, and spends most of his time drunk. He's assisted in his adventures by the axe-wielding Makri, a young girl with human, elf, and orc blood, who spent 7 years as a gladiator in the orc slave-pits, and who now works as a barmaid at the "Avenging Axe", wearing a chainmail bikini.

Thraxas is in big trouble, owing money to the local mob (the "Brotherhood") for gambling debts after betting unwisely at the chariot races. He is, therefore, somewhat surprised to be hired by the Princess Du-Akai, third in line to the throne, to recover some rather risque letters she unwisely wrote to a foreign ambassador.

An extremely funny take on the "hard-boiled" detective genre. Well worth a read for detective and fantasy fans alike. Thoroughly recommended.

The entire series is published by Baen at their usual reasonable prices.