The following is a complete, spoiler-filled summary of the events of A Murder of Mages.
If you do not wish to be spoiled for the events of the book, do not continue reading.
The Hiring of Satrine Rainey
SATRINE RAINEY, forced into being the sole support of her invalid husband and two daughters, uses her skills as a former spy to defraud her way into a position at the Constabulary House of Inemar, her childhood neighborhood. Despite it turning her stomach, she charms CAPT. CINELLAN into making her a provisional Inspector Third Class, and he assigns her MINOX WELLING, the “Jinx”, as her partner. Minox is ostracized by the rest of the inspectors (notably KELLMAN and MIRRELL), despite his keen observational skills and highly analytical mind. He immediately recognizes Satrine’s deceptions, but is impressed with her talents, especially once she deduces that he is a mage.
They get called to a case right away—a ritual murder of a man who cannot be identified, but has a tattoo from a mage circle. After securing the scene and calling for the bodywagon, they go to the tea shop across the street so Minox—weakened by the strange metal spikes used in the murder—can eat something. As they eat, Satrine learns more of Minox’s background as an untrained mage and an inspector.
The Murdered Mage
Minox asks Satrine to indulge him in an exercise to restage their theory on how the murder occurred, which involves Minox carrying Satrine out of the sewer entrance and down the alley to where the body is, and miming the actions. With the help of PHILLEN HACE, a constabulary page, they determine it would be possible for one person acting alone, but challenging in the presumed timeframe. MARICUS LEPPIN, the stationhouse bodyman, picks up the corpse from the alley, noting the spikes used were clearly unique in composition, as they showed no mark from being driven into the cobblestone. Minox and Satrine go to question the witness who found the body, the child of IDRE HOFFER, a woman who was Satrine’s tormentor in her youth. The witness yields very little information, but Satrine is relived that Idre did not recognize her, as she had been instrumental in getting Idre arrested as a child. Returning to the station, Satrine’s old nickname of “Tricky” has already started circulating, as well as rumors of her indulging Minox in his exercise, and she puts Mirrell in his place. Meeting with Leppin about his findings, they learn that the victim’s heart was cut out with surgical precision, and that he was a mage in a circle called the Firewings.
The Consquences of the Firewings
Satrine and Minox go to the local chapterhouse of the Firewings, in the hopes of identifying the victim, who is Hessen Tomar. His wife, Jaelia, is so distraught she releases a wave of magical energy that shatters windows along the street, and Minox and Satrine are forced to arrest her. They then go to the butcher shop next to the alley where Tomar was found, owned by the Brondar family, who resent being questioned at all, and Minox realizes the youngest son, Joshea, is also an Uncircled Mage. They come to an understanding, though Minox is still suspicious, and Satrine realizes that Minox is hiding something from her. Satrine also runs into Nerrish Plum, a bookseller whose grandfather helped her learn how to read as a child by giving her a poetry book, a book that Nerrish also cherishes. They return to the stationhouse, where Minox exchanges information with a reported named Rencir, and Satrine meets Zebram Hilsom of the Protector’s Office. Hilsom and Minox question Jaelia with her lawyer (a mage named Quentin Olivant), which yields little except animosity aimed at Minox. Hilsom kicks up the charges on her to the Archduchy Court, and arranges for her to be transferred to Eastwood. Minox and Satrine end their business for the day by resolving one of his open cases, where Satrine’s memory of an old building in the neighborhood provides the key insight to solving it. She heads home, while Minox and Mirrell supervise the transfer of Jaelia Tomar, Minox first going over events with his sister Corrie as she comes on the night shift. The transfer is attacked, and Jaelia Tomar is abducted. Minox overextends himself trying to stop the abductor, and passes out from the effort.
Restless Nights of the Inspectors
Minox briefly gains consciousness, realizing he’s formed some kind of magical attachment to the trail left by Jaelia’s abductor, but passes out again before he can explore that. He awakens in the stationhouse ward, where Leppin tells him he pushed himself too hard and needs to rest. Corrie comes in and makes him promise to go home. He fulfills that promise, but doesn’t stay, instead returning to the scene of the crime to investigate the trail of the tether. This leads him through the sewer tunnels and back to the alley where Hessen was found, but there the trail vanishes. He goes to question Joshea Brondar, but ends up sitting for dinner with the entire Brondar family, whose conservative, religious attitude explains Joshea keeping his magic hidden. They consider the idea that they might help each other with being untrained mages with minimal control over their abilities.
Satrine goes home for the night, checking in with her daughters Rian and Caribet, and Missus Abernand, her landlady who also helps care for her husband. She is restless about the events of the day, drinking several glasses of wine, before going in to tend to her infirm husband, Loren, who is in a near vegetative state.
The Murder of Jaelia Tomar
Instead of going back home, Minox returns to the stationhouse to go through the files to figure out who might have motives against Hessen and Jaelia Tomar, or the Firewings in general, and comparing mage shackles to the spikes used in the murder. He sends a page—Phillen—to fetch Satrine in her home. As Satrine comes in she and Phillen are accosted by some street boys, including one of Idre Hoffer’s sons. She subdues and arrests him. After discussing Minox’s theories—namely that the spikes are radically different from mage shackles—they go with writs to the Firewing house, but their search is interrupted when Jaelia’s body is discovered at a different mage circlehouse nearby, for the Cirlce of Light and Stone. They confront the members of that circle, considering that these murders are revisiting the Mage Rows from a few years back, and Satrine makes a Riot Call to keep the crowds at bay. While Minox is in the middle between the Light and Stone and the Firewings, Satrine chases the apparent killer up to the roof of the building, but loses a scuffle with them. The killer takes her crossbow, but leaves her alone.
The situation with the Circles defused, Satrine brings Minox to meet Major Dresser, a retired mage from Druth Intelligence, who is quite rude to Minox but interested in the spikes, so he keeps one to learn more about them. Minox and Satrine talk about what happened to her husband, which sparks his curiosity. They return to the stationhouse, where Hilsom is livid over what happened at the Light and Stone, especially since he’s hearing complaints from Light and Stone about their house leader, Wells Harleydale, being brought in by constabulary, but Minox and Satrine don’t know anything about that. This gives them concern that something new is going to happen.
The Body in St. Limarre’s
Satrine is called down to the workfloor when Idre Hoffer comes to collect her son, and Satrine confronts her about her life and how she’s raising her children, still not letting Hoffer know about their shared past. They are called to St. Limarre’s church, where the third body—Wells Harleydale—has been left, explicitly with Satrine’s crossbow as a message. They realize, though, that the killer is still in the church, and his hiding in the priest’s chambers. He manages to escape by using a powder that makes Minox lose control of his magic. While Minox recovers, Satrine realizes that Sister Alanna, the head cloistress, is an old friend from her street days.
They return to the stationhouse, and Capt. Cinellan, seeing the condition Minox is in, insists that he goes home, charging his secretary Nyla Pyle (Minox’s cousin) to make sure Minox complies. Minox and Satrine both check out and go home.
Minox finds Joshea has come to his home, cooking with his mother and charming the whole family. After they eat, he and Minox go to a tobacco shop to smoke and talk about what happened to Minox. Joshea offers him a Poasian spice called rijetzh, which blocks magical ability, that Joshea uses to keep his own power under control. Minox returns home and checks in on his cousin Evoy, who lives in the stable out back and is focused on solving secrets and conspiracies in the city to the determent of his health. Minox respects his opinions, and Minox is the only member of the family that he trusts.
Satrine comes home to catch Rian kissing a boy at a wine shop, and the two of them have a blow-up. While fighting with Rian, she looks for her copy of the poetry book she had as a child, but can’t find it. Satrine goes to bed, barely able to get a handle on her anger.
The Quiet Call
Satrine and Welling both go into work, determined to do better than they had the day before, and hopefully solve the mage murders before the situation gets any worse. Instead of working on that, they are recruited on a “quiet call”—a raid led by Kellman and Mirrell to catch a group of corrupt constabulary officers. The raid goes well, including Satrine running through the streets to catch one Lieutenant that got away. This gets the attention of the press—specifically Rencir—and earns Satrine some respect from the other inspectors. Minox realizes that the rijetzh was more effective than he had planned, as his magical ability is completely muted.
Satrine is Discovered
Satrine returns to the stationhouse to find Commissioner Enbrain—the head of the city constabulary and her husband’s direct supervisor—is there, livid about what she has done faking her way into her position. He became aware because the boy she caught kissing Rian was the son of a city alderman. He is especially upset since he wrote the letter for her to be hired, but in a clerk position, which she scoffs at as being wholly inadequate for her expenses in light of her husband’s condition.
Rather than accept the offer to take the clerk job, Satrine quits and leaves the stationhouse. Instead of going home, she goes to Saint Limarre’s and talks to Sister Alana, who reminds her that she is a good, worthy person despite her sins. Minox is upset by the turn of events, believing Satrine is worthy of being his partner, but keeps working alone. He reworks his way through each murder, noting the training and efficiency in the killings implies someone well trained, perhaps military..
The Paths to Plum
Satrine makes one more stop before going home, to Plum’s bookstore to get another copy of the poetry book she lost. He gives her his own copy, which he feels he has learned all he can from. Minox goes to Joshea, which angers the rest of the Brondar family that he is harassing them. Minox explains that he thinks the killer is a recently discharged army officer, like Joshea, and wants to know who else is in that unit. Satrine gets home and reads through the book, finding a poem where it’s clear from the wear on the book and the notes written in the margin that Plum had focused much attention on. The poem fits the details of the murdered mages, and Satrine realizes Plum must be the killer, and that he’ll target an Uncircled mage next.
Satrine On Her Own
Satrine races back to Inemar to tell Minox what she’s realized, but he’s already gone to Plum’s shop, as Plum is one of the ex-soldier’s Joshea named. Plum easily subdues Minox, who mistakenly relied on his blocked magic to defend himself. Satrine gets to the station, but the officers at the door don’t let her in, calling her a cheat and a fraud. The only person she finds to help her outside the station is Phillen, who says he’ll go in and get some help for her. Before he comes back, Idre Hoffer shows up, knowing who Satrine is. They brawl in the street, and Satrine knocks her out. As soon as the fight is done, Mirrell and Kellman are there, looking as if they’re going to abuse Satrine. Instead, they want to hear her theory about how Minox is in danger.
The Rescue of Minox
Minox is being held in some chamber in the tunnels beneath Plum’s shop, where Plum is planning on using him as the final part of a ritual—based on the poem, which he believes to be filled with ancient, magical secrets—to bring his wife back from the dead. His wife had been killed my mages in the Mage Row, none of whom faced any justice. He begins the ritual by taking the last two spikes—he refers to “eight fallen pins”—and hammering one into Minox’s arm. Meanwhile, Satrine has led Mirrell and Kellman to the shop, and they go into the tunnels from there. When they set off a trap and are caught, Satrine follows. Plum mentions that he first thinks that the “Brotherhood” has found him, but while he’s distracted by Kellman and Mirrell, Satrine fights him and gets him subdued. She gets the spike out of Minox’s arm and gets him out.
Inspector, Third Class
With help from Mirrell and Kellman, Satrine and Minox, both of whom were significantly injured—get out of the bookshop with Plum in irons. They return to the stationhouse where their injuries are tended, and Kellman and Mirrell get credit for the arrest. They are told that Plum has already confessed and taken a deal to go to Quarrygate without trial, and Minox finds the ease of that puzzling.
Captain Cinellan tells Satrine that he is impressed with her, and tells her that she can still accept the original clerk position that she was offered in the real letter, and Minox, recognizing what is happening, suggests that she takes it. She accepts the job, and as soon as she performs a single function of the job, Cinellan has the authority to promote her to Inspector, Third Class, which he does. She and Minox, having both been treated for their injuries, go home for the night, but not before Nyla confronts Satrine for her trickery. Minox goes home to find Joshea there, who apologizes for having led him to Plum. They agree that they should both learn how to handle their magic, and form an informal circle of the two of them to that end. Minox stops by Evoy’s shed, where he sees that Evoy already has a note written about the Brotherhood of the Nine. Minox adds a note for him about the connection to Nerrish Plum. Satrine gets home and tells Loren about her day, and he has a brief lucid moment where he says her name. Bolstered by this moment, she pledges her intention to keep working and fighting for him.