A Business Of Ferrets [Paperback]

"...the magic [is] interesting, the street scenes and urchins' network are vivid and realistic..." -- Talebones

"A fun, fast-paced romp full of delightfully distinctive characters." -- Locus, April 2000

"From the slum kids to the King, Hilgartner creates heroes both great and small that drew me into her tale."— -- Lois McMaster Bujold

A Business of Ferrets, a fantasy done in the style of the Thieves' World series. For those who remember and love the magic, intrigue, and honor among friends of that series: In the decadent Empire of Bharaghlaf, the Scholar King Khethyran sits uneasily on the throne while in the Slums of his capital city an apprentice thief, Ferret, and her four young friends eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. When the beggar Owl disappears, Ferret and the others set out to learn his fate. Sold as a slave to the powerful House Ghytteve, Owl is destined to be the bait at the center of a complicated grab for power. But Owl, whose gifts as a Seer are just beginning to emerge, is far more than the helpless pawn he seems. As Ferret and her friends come closer to the truth, they too are inexorably drawn into the vicious intrigues of the Council Houses. From the enigmatic longshoreman, Sharkbait, to the Emperor's foreign witch, the friends enlist a formidable and varied band of allies-and set out to beat the scheming nobles at their own, ruthless game.

Beth Hilgartner has published five previous books: three fantasies, a historical fiction novel, and a picture book. [query for Stephe - do you want titles, etc.?] She is an Episcopal priest, an award-winning author, a musician, a flower farmer, an equestrian, a maker of historical instruments (recorders), and chronically short of sleep. She lives in Orford, NH - no, not OXford - with her husband and their four seriously pampered cats.

I think that's everything I owe you, but let me know if I've forgotten anything.

The titles of my previous works are:

Great Gorilla Grins (the picture book)

A Necklace of Fallen Stars

A Murder for her Majesty (winner of the Golden Pen Award 1987 - Mystery category

and a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies)

Colors in the Dreamweaver's Loom

The Feast of the Trickster