Narrated by Joe Eyre, Mortedant’s Peril by RJ Barker has a runtime of 16 hrs 11 mins on Audible.
Publisher’s Summary
“…Joe Eyre keeps listeners wide awake with an electric performance… [Irody] Hasp’s world is equally odd and engaging, and Eyre explores every inch, providing various voices to round out an eclectic group of characters.” — Kirkus (Earphones Award Winner)
In a city of ancient automata, strange spirits, and sleeping gods, a cleric of death finds his own life on the line in this vividly imagined fantasy murder mystery from the acclaimed author of The Bone Ships and Age of Assassins.
Irody Hasp is a Mortedant, a cleric tasked with reading the last thoughts of the dead—though no one thanks him for it. No Mortedant is popular, but Irody is scarcely tolerated even by the other members of his own guild, and rarely selected for anything but the lowliest of jobs.
This impoverished existence would be dismal enough—but after reading the corpse of a low-level records keeper, Irody’s troubles quickly multiply when his own apprentice is murdered, and all fingers point to him as a suspect. The only way to save his own skin is to find the real culprit himself, an investigation that quickly attracts powerful enemies with few scruples, and draws him into a plot that threatens the entire corrupt yet wondrous city he calls home.
Perfect for fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora, Foundryside, and Witness for the Dead, this investigative misadventure begins a perilous new series by award-winning author RJ Barker.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Joe Eyre
- Length: 16 hrs 11 mins
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Release year: 2026
- Audible category: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Mystery / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Listener Ratings
Mortedant’s Peril holds an average listener rating of 4.6/5 from 11 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.9/5
- Story: 4.7/5
- 5-star ratings: 73% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
5/5 stars — “6 stars if I could”
Devoured this. So incredibly fun and excellent world building. Great narration. Book two when?— pepper, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “A great start for RJ Barker’s new series!”
Mortedant Irody Hasp, is snobby, arrogant and vain with an inflated sense of his own importance. In other words, he’s not very likeable and is also very difficult (and downright unpleasant) to deal with. As a result, his superiors at the Mortedant Priory give him the worst jobs for the worst pay because, frankly, nobody there likes him.So, he lives on a shoestring budget, taking any job he can get even if the clients are beneath him (and they are quite literally beneath him since the lower tiers of the city are where his poor and highly disadvantaged clients live).
At first, I thought I might not like Mortedant’s Peril any more than I liked Irody, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. As Irody digs deeper and deeper into the mystery, his eccentricities are balanced out by the excellent banter with the people around him. I grew very attached to Irody and his "found family" very quickly! I love Irody and I can’t wait for the sequel. I want more!
I also want to listen to more books read by the narrator, Joe Eyre. He absolutely nails the narration. He has a great sense of timing and puts so much energy into the action scenes: he literally had me on the edge of my seat. He was the perfect choice to bring this immersive story to life with its wide variety of characters.
I have listened to everything published by RJ Barker & this book is by far my favorite.
The TLDR?: This book is a fast-paced fantasy mystery with great found family vibes and a complex, quirky and, ultimately, very likeable main character. I think fans of The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett and The Silverblood Promise by James Logan will also enjoy this book. This story has humor and a lot of heart. An enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5 from me.
— alicia.w, Audible listener
For full pricing and the 30-day Audible free trial offer, see the link on this page.
