Four and twenty blackbirds - Mercedes Lackey

The sequel to The Eagle and the Nightingales, and following the success of Mercedes Lackey's other solo novel, Sacred Ground.

There is a rash of mysterious deaths in the city of Kingsford: where murders are followed immediately by suicides; where the target is almost always a female gypsy or street musician; and where the weapon used is always a three-sided dagger - which always disappears as mysteriously as the true killer.

Tal, a constable finding difficulty in having this case taken seriously, joins forces with Ardis, a Justiciar Mage and Priest of the church. Only these two people seem to have noticed that these are not open-and-shut cases and, presented with such a mysterious set of clues, that there must be magecraft at work. With the help of Visyr, a birdman, they must unravel this perplexing case and trace the clues back to an evil and cunning source.