Mosca Mye and Eponymous Clent are at it again. Escaping disaster by the skin of their teeth, they find refuge in Toll, a strange gateway town where visitors may neither enter nor leave without paying a price. By day, the city is well-mannered and orderly; by night, it’s host to rogues and villains.
Wherever there’s a plot, there’s sure to be treachery, and wherever there’s treachery, there’s sure to be trouble—and where there’s trouble, well, Clent, Mosca, and Saracen can’t be far behind. But as past deeds catch up with them and old enemies appear, this time it seems as if there’s no way out.
Frances Hardinge is the winner of the 2015 Costa Book of the Year for The Lie Tree, one of just two young adult novels to win this major UK literary prize. She is the author of several books for young people, including Cuckoo Song, A Face Like Glass, Verdigris Deep, and A Skinful of Shadows. She lives in England.