The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark

Winner of the Alex Award 2025 and Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fantasy (2024) The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a unique fantasy, with a striking cover, that is sure to appeal to fans of the genre.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.
Nor do they have tails.
But they are most assuredly dead.

Eveen the Eviscerator is a Dead Cat Assassin, one who has been resurrected and wiped of her memories. She has been given a just contract from her guild which is headed by the goddess, Aeril, The Matron of Assassins. This is an assassination that she must carry out or face painful consequences. When confronted with her victim, she unexpectedly finds she is unable to perform the task because a memory has come back. She recognises the face!

In 213 pages, Clark packs a punch, building a world that is easy to imagine, with its strange food, wonderful festivals and powerful guilds. His characters are well crafted. Although an assassin, it is easy to relate to Eveen who is intelligent and determined. The snarky dialogue between her and her intended victim, Sky, brightens up some dark moments and clever plotting keeps the suspense alive as the reader is left wondering whether Eveen and Sky will survive the machinations of the Great Patriarch and the judgments of goddesses.

Readers will want to pick up A Master of djinn by Clark, winner of the Nebula and Locus Awards in 2022, and those who like books about assassins are sure to enjoy His fair assassin series by Robin LaFevers and The dagger and the flame by Catherine Doyle. I can’t wait for more original stories by Clark.

Themes: Assassins, Goddesses, Deception.

Pat Pledger