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The Scales of Justice
Paperback
Series: The Circus of Unusual Creatures, Book 6
FantasyHumorMystery & Thriller
Publisher: Tammie Painter
Published: Dec 25 2025
Pages: 376
Weight: 0.96
Height: 0.84 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
- A crime boss with a secret
- A swoon-inducing thief
- A heist that leads to murder
It might be the perfect case for Duncan, but he's really just in town for the omelets.
Zin's Circus of Unusual Creatures is gearing up for a lengthy run in Chesterwood, a town run by the infamous crime boss, Rochester McCleary, aka The Goblin King
No one knows why Rochester invited them to town, why he's letting them set up on a recently demolished city block for free, or why he keeps lurking around the circus grounds, but no one is stupid enough to ask McCleary to divulge his suspicious secrets.
Meanwhile, Duncan's performances have been drastically cut, and he's bored off his scales. Bored, that is, until someone breaks into and empties Rochester's vault.
The boredom is especially lifted when, soon after the heist, a body is found. The only trouble is that the most obvious suspects are a kind-hearted sculptor and Duncan's favorite omelet chef, Pepper.
Although eager to take the case, Duncan is reluctant to tangle with The Goblin King. After all, he's pretty sure he'd look terrible in cement shoes.
Can Duncan (along with his fellow amateur sleuths Boris and Cordelia) discover who the real culprit is before Rochester McCleary makes good on his threats? Can they uncover Chesterwood's secrets without ending up in pine boxes?
Or will they get too distracted by cute co-workers, skimpy outfits, modern dating advice, and a certain dragon's omelet goals to survive this confounding case?
Find out in The Scales of Justice, the latest addition to the Circus of Unusual Creatures Mysteries - a cozy fantasy series that mixes in laughs with murderous mayhem and mythical beasts.
* * *
Although it's the sixth book in the series, The Scales of Justice is a great place to jump into the humor-filled mysteries of The Circus of Unusual Creatures series.
Set in a 1930s that's just a tad different than what you're used to, The Circus of Unusual Creatures is a delightfully humorous cozy fantasy series that features a detecting dragon, an aura-spotting centaur, a chain-smoking unicorn, and plenty of other quirky characters getting into all kinds of trouble as they stumble their way through clues, crimes, and perfectly cooked omelets.
If you like comic fantasy whodunits that combine laughs with murderous mayhem and mythical beasts you'll love, not only this silly story, but also the other five books in the series: Hoard It All Before, Tipping the Scales, Fangs a Million, Beast or Famine, and Too Claws for Comfort.
Story Note: While this lighthearted, humorous series is mostly clean, it does have a lusty, chain-smoking unicorn who makes more than a few naughty innuendos, a dragon who drinks, a tiny bit of mild swearing, and (obviously) there's a murder or two along the way.
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