★★★★☆ Testimony of Mute Things, by Lois McMaster Bujold
** spoiler alert ** Young Penric solves a murder mystery
Testimony of Mute Things
Lois McMaster Bujold
** spoiler alert **
Young Penric solves a murder mystery
Testimony of Mute Things is the 15th and (as of 6-Nov-2025) last novella in Lois McMaster Bujold‘s Penric and Desdemona series by publication order. By internal chronology, though, it is Number Four. What we have here is a relatively young Penric, who has not yet settled down with his wife-to-be Nikys. He has also not yet crashed catastrophically out of medical practice. In fact, he is serving as personal sorcerer -physician to princess-archdivine of Martensbridge, Llewen kin Stagthorne.
Princess Llewen has been called to the city of Carpagamo for a conclave. A war (one gets the impression more of a series of skirmishes than an all-out war) has just finished (more-or-less), and territories have changed hands between the Duchies of Carpagamo and Adria. This has left the inhabitants of several towns in those parts under new religious leadership. The purpose of the conclave is to settle arising disputes like civilized folk. Llewen is to be the chief judge. Pen is a kind of high-level factotum (Latin “do-everything”).
During the night after Llewen’s party arrives in Carpagamo, a woman dies. That day this woman had approached Penric desiring private speech with Llewen. Because Llewen was busy, Penric had put her off until the next morning, and she died before that interview could take place. Penric and Des investigate and quickly determine that she was murdered. So we have a fun little murder mystery.
The title, Testimony of Mute Things manages to sound mysterious but is not really that. In fact, almost every mystery you have ever read involves the testimony of mute things -- footprints, cigar ash (Sherlock Holmes loved this), possessions of the victims and murderers, etc. They are usually just called “clues.” You might get the impression from the title that Pen and Des’s solution of this mystery involves such clues particularly prominently, but this is not the case. Pen makes use of the testimony of many humans and even of not-mute inanimate things such as written documents.
If, like me, you’re always eager to hear more about Pen and Des, you will read this and enjoy it. It is not, however, in the top ranks of the series.