Paved With Good Intentions by Peter McLean (book review)
Eline’s life changes dramatically when she kills Caromir, her husband of twenty years. He lifted his hand to strike her yet again, something snapped and she plunged a kitchen knife into his neck. Someone saw it. She was arrested and expected the death penalty but then a fat man took her into a little room and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. He was a Queen’s Man, one of an elite force above the law. He told Eline she had to kill a brothel owner, a madam in a well-protected establishment who had murdered a duke. Eline would go undercover as a licensed bawd in the Silver Bells to do the deed or she could die and her son, who was in army training, would have an unfortunate accident. For her son’s sake, Eline agrees to the job.
The fat man sends Nama, a dark-skinned Alarrian, to take Eline to the brothel. Nama wears the Bawd’s Knot, a yellow cord tied around the shoulder that shows one is a licensed, respectable bawd and not some street whore stoned on poppy juice. She introduces Eline to Madam, who decides that the new lady has the makings of a courtesan rather than a common prostitute, though she will have to work at that while being trained in the arts of dancing, fans and elocution. Eline soon finds that all is not what it seems in the upper-class world of wealth, schemes and treachery. The plot thickens and twists deliciously.
There’s good worldbuilding here. Eline lives in Drathburg, a provincial city but hears dark tales about the capital Dannsburg. Trade with other countries brings in tea, spices, poppy juice and dark-skinned immigrants who mingle with the locals in the poorer parts of the city and are accepted by them. Poor folks stick together. Coinsday, when workers get paid, is followed by Godsday when they go to worship at the appropriate temple, often retiring to the pub after. There are a variety of gods and you go to the temple appropriate to your trade. The whores worship the goddess of harvest and fertility, but few people seem especially religious. It’s just a social norm. Eline decides that her favourite is the Goddess of Death and makes friends with the relevant priest.
About halfway through the book, our heroine is asked to help obtain information from a prisoner. She stabbed him through the testicle, nailing it to the floor. He talked. So would I, by God, but this put me off a bit (well, a lot) and I stopped reading for a week. But a reviewer’s gotta do what a reviewer’s gotta do, so I bravely picked up the book and carried on.
‘Paved With Good Intentions’ is a fast-paced, well-plotted fantasy with an interesting cast of characters in a complex world. Overall, it’s a bit dark for my taste, with a lot of bad language that my mother wouldn’t have liked and a low view of humanity. This reflects the real world, alas, but I prefer my fantasy a bit more uplifting. If you like the grim stuff, though, Peter McLean writes his swift-moving plots in a clean, crisp style with enough twists to keep you in suspense and you won’t be bored. You might be sick, but you won’t be bored.
This is advertised as ‘Book 5 of 5: War For The Rose Throne’ series but it seems more like the first part of something, as the heroine is just launching her career. At any rate, it is perfectly readable as a standalone.
Eamonn Murphy
February 2026
(pub: Arcadia/Quercus/Hatchette, 2025. 265 page hardback. Price: £22.00 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-52943-716-4
265 page small enlarged paperback. Price; £10.99 (UK), $18.99 (US), $24.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-1-52943-719-5)
check out website: www.quercus.co.uk
