Rating: 4.5⭐️
I’m just on my second short story in this amazing collection and already I’m sold. Every author is a new discovery and so far each tale is engaging, well written, and full of twists and surprising characters.
Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree, the first book of the Magic & Mystery collection, starts off with the murder of the unlikable Brother Gorm at the Order of Venerous the Petulant.
Yes, Baldree had me right there.
Then the desperate bishop has a friend call in a detective to help solve the mystery. And Miss Gentle arrives!
I will not spoil her unsettling and perfectly incredible appearance she makes at the monastery. She’s a mysterious figure herself and adds to the mystical aspect of the story.
It’s funny, sharply crafted. And has one last punch waiting for the reader at the end.
Perfect.
Highly recommended.
Cover illustration by Danny Schlitz
Magic & Mystery collection – 7 books (ebook & audio):
Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree
The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst
The Lion’s Tusk by Robert Jackson Bennett
A Labyrinth of Honeybees by Heather Fawcett
The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch
Battle of the Round House by Tananarive Due
The Cairndale Orphan by J. M. Miro
Buy link
Blurb
A peculiar detective takes on a monastic murder mystery in a darkly funny fantasy short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Legends & Lattes series.
Nobody really liked Brother Gorm, but his untimely and abrupt descent from the abbey’s bell tower has the Order of Venerous the Petulant on edge. Desperate to settle the case before the bishop returns, the abbot enlists the highly unorthodox investigator Miss Gentle. As she clanks through the abbey in a full suit of armor, the cantankerous detective has no problem asking awkward questions—but will she get any answers?
Travis Baldree’s Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk is part of the Magic & Mystery collection, puzzle-box mysteries from top fantasy authors. They can be read or listened to in one enchanting sitting
Amazon Original Stories
Publication date
July 28, 2026
Language
English
Print lengths
33 pages
Book 1 of 7
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 