Red Iron Nights
Glen Cook
 Garrett is relaxing at the Joy House with Saucerhead and Morley Dotes, when Belinda Contague, daughter of Kingpin Chodo Contague, stumbles into the bar. She is attacked by a wizened old man who spits butterflies from his mouth and tries to kidnap Belinda in his black stagecoach. As strange as this is, Garrett moves on to his next job, tailing a religious crackpot by the name of Barking Dog Amato. This job, however, takes a backseat when Captain Westman Block comes knocking at Garrett's door. Block needs Garrett's help to solve a series of grisly murders, in which upper class young ladies are being strung up and gutted in strange, ritualistic killings. Garrett soon realizes that the attempted kidnapping of Belinda Contague is connected to the murders. Garrett and Morley then go pay the owner of the coach a visit, and in a bungled sleuthing attempt, Garrett ends up killing the serial killer. Figuring that the case is closed, Garrett finds time to spend on Barking Dog Amato, but before he can get going, Captain Block comes by to inform Garrett that there has been another murder. It seems that there is a curse associated with the murders, so that killing the murderer does not prevent the rise of a new serial killer. Even when Garrett and Block find the new killer, the curse spreads again. Meanwhile, Garrett finds out that Chodo Contague suffered a stroke during his encounter with the Serpent in Dread Brass Shadows, and Crask and Sadler are ruling the crime world in his stead. Belinda Contague, fearing Crask and Sadler, seeks out Garrett for help; Belinda is also in danger of being slain by the cursed serial killer. When Block and Garrett, along with Relway, an up-and-coming member of the Watch, find the new bearer of the curse, he escapes yet again. Ultimately, after a final plot twist, the curse is broken, and Belinda Contague overthrows Crask and Sadler and takes over as ruler of the underworld, using her father as a figurehead. Finally, as a gag gift, Morley gives Garrett an annoying talking parrot, which takes a major role in later Garrett novels.