[[Waterman's Foreigner] by [[Campbell Browse]] is a book I received as an Early Reviewer. It's a fantasy mystery set in the imagined and imaginative world of the City of Bridges, an entrepreneurial free city surrounded by aristocrats on estates who owe allegiance to a king. Within the city there's a walled embassy belonging to the Khalsidi, foreigners whose dress, language, religion, and customs are in sharp contrast to those of the citizens of the City of Bridges. When the body of a Khalsidi woman is pulled from the river, Hanz Waterman and his two assistants, Happy and Goodluck, are asked to investigate and find the killer. They are assigned two Khalsidi, Shalek and Murat, to aid in the investigation.

Waterman, Happy, and Goodluck are members of the Fire Watch, a group originally tasked with firefighting that has evolved to include police duties; Waterman is sometimes identified as a thief-taker. He rents a room from a baker, who has recently been joined by his cousin, Serenity, a woman from out of the city who grew up as the daughter of a shopkeeper. She knew her father's business and is exceedingly accurate with numbers, but was married off to a demanding and brutal man who took over the shop after her father's death. During one argument, she defends herself against her husband's beating with her favorite kitchen knife, so flees to the city when she's convinced she's killed him. Waterman comes to depend on her for her sweet rolls and other foods, for patching him up after fights, and for her advice about who to talk to for information, as women shopping at the bakery tend to confide in her rather than the Watch.

Waterman and his team, together with the two Khalsidi, make their way through the city asking questions and receiving very few answers. Although the murder is eventually solved, the story encompasses a broader political conflict as well.

This isn't the sort of murder mystery in which clues are sprinkled throughout the story and the reader chooses among an array of likely suspects; although the plodding questioning of possible witnesses seems realistic, the mystery becomes less important than the overall picture of this society. That's probably the strongest quality of the story, and the characters are fairly individual. There's a vague hint of a possible romantic attachment, but no more than that. Some of the details of daily life were off-putting--did anyone bathe on a regular basis? Did the Watchmen live on beer, bread, cheese, and sausage? Minor quibbles, perhaps! ( )

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this work as an Early Reviewer. No compensation was received other than a link so I could read this work for free via Amazon (estimated value: 1.99 USD)

This book, the first in a planned series, takes place in a fantasy city where a murder creates political and social complications for everyone involved. Everyone wants an outcome of the investigation that will benefit them, but the investigator, Hanz Waterman, only wants to find out the truth behind what happened.

The book overall was an okay read. While at times it did become a little confusing trying to keep track of which character was with which group, the overall characters were fairly evenly developed, if a little shallow. I personally found it a little hard to get absorbed into reading, especially in the first section of the book. About 50 pages in, I was able to get more drawn into the story.

Recommended for: those looking to dip their toes into fantasy works without magic, those who enjoy manga such as Library Wars, and readers who are looking for an afternoon read when they're not sure what exactly they feel like reading ( )

I wanted to enjoy this book. It had some cool, interesting world building, and Serenity was a great character and I enjoyed her scenes. But overall, I just found the book so boring and the mystery uninteresting and dull. I would not recommend this one. ( )