we see The Warden very clearly now, as he sees himself, not that he is (quite) only that, but he tries hard to be persuasive. and he's writing his own ending, after all. dark territory, but he clears the final chapter quite efficiently, though there's a bit more sentiment to it than he will allow. this one, as incisively written as the earlier books in the series, is grounded in Noir, and it's basically an espionage novel, despite its fantasy trappings. this whole series is not nice, but it's lovely work, with a fascinating main character and a lot of shading, and i'm sorry to see it end. ( )

This final book in the trilogy was rather special, as long as you love grit, grime, and the final act in a revenge fifteen years in the building.

The Warden has had a nice and long run, it is true, and even after his disgrace and his fallen status as the sneaky and clever peacemaker kingpin of drugs in this detailed fantasy shithole of a town, he isn't one to be pushed too far.

She Who Waits, the third titular euphemism for death, certainly lives up to it's promise, and it just goes to prove that you can't keep a man on a mission down. Especially when it involves the mastermind Old Man or the Warden's old love who was the architect of his fall from the Old Man's graces.

Are we tearing the world down? Are we just here to see the world burn? No. The Warden is still trying to protect both the last dregs of his idealism and his chosen family, no matter how difficult it has become, and he's willing to give it all up to do so.

What a grand tale, emotional and smart and deadly. This third novel ties up all the loose ends that really needed tying, it's true, but more importantly, it rests as one hell of a capstone for the trilogy. ( )

Raymond Chandler meets Joe Abercrombie - the trilogy is a must-read. ( )

She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky follows Warden on a murder investigation in the ghetto known as Low Town. An investigation that turns out to be far more involved that it first appears.

The Cover: The cover is professional and works for the genre. I picked it as a fantasy/dark fantasy title.

The Good Stuff: The writing is competent and there are a few great lines in this title, along with a few twists and turns in the plot. I did enjoy the characters although there were some issues noted in the bad stuff below. I really enjoyed the grittiness of the world setting and the mix of social groups

The Bad Stuff: For me the biggest issue is a personal preference. I really do not enjoy 1st person POV, it puts me on the back foot straight away. Coupled with the story initially coming across as a kind of historical crime novel set in the late 17th or early 18th century, it took a while to get into. At the end of the book I was still a little confused on the time period, but then it is fantasy and I’m happy to accept that it may just be set in its own time period. While I enjoyed the characters, they were introduced with an info dump of description. I also didn’t believe the main character was consistent with his background. I haven’t read the previous books in this series, and it may be explained in those, but Warden grew up on the streets, a pick pocket and spotter, running scams, taking drugs, beating people up. Yet his vocabulary is far superior to what I would expect of someone with his background. I would never expect a character like this to use words such as gregarious, ruminations, or hedonistic, and these are just a few examples.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters, but I came away a little unsatisfied. Probably a combination of my personal preference and a few little niggles with the author’s style. This is a 3.5 star book for me, but as I can only deal in whole numbers, I’m giving it a back-stabbing, dirt stained 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
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A Low Town story is like an episode of the wire that takes place in Lankhmar. Actually, it's better than that. Polansky's mastery of dialog is akin to Elmore Leonards and it makes reading the Warden's misadventures a joy. ( )