From publisher blurb:
Two Words On the subject of criminal activities, with notes as to their likely (not to say inevitable) outcome
Life in the Empire’s greatest (remaining) city isn’t ever easy, but opportunity can appear at the most unexpected moments. A chance encounter, a stolen glance, an inattentive button-man, and the world can be your oyster.
Sometimes, though, you’re the oyster, and the world is that blunt knife getting forced in through your shell.
Maybe you’re a low-ranking Jhereg enforcer looking to make a little on the side, and you just had a Dragon noblewoman spill her drunken secrets within your hearing. You HAD to tell that old Eastern guy enough so he’d cast that spell, but how were you to know the Left Hand of the Jhereg was ALREADY involved, and now somebody says Sethra Lavode is asking around? It may be time to lie low, or it may be time to start sticking knives into everyone who looks like they need it, and just hope the mound of bodies keeps the Phoenix Guards confused long enough for you to get out from under.
And maybe there’s a pearl in there somewhere