Customer Reviews
Mediocre at best, poor at worst - By: N. Victor, 02 Jan 2008 
As mentionedin a previous review, it was said as this is not written by Raymond E. Feist & is the other author's interpretation of the world of Midkemia to be true, as the major inconsistency I found was the use of swearing. I can understand that the author may have wanted to create a veneer of authenticity for his "rough & ready" mercenaries & I personally do not have anything against swearingin literature as long as it's consistent with the setting & relevant to the work. Unfortunately I can't say that here. Overall I found the story line mediocre & the interpretation of Feist's world to be poor.
One star only! - By: G. Peters, 21 Dec 2007 
Murderin Lamut was a poor compared to Honoured enemy & Jimmy the Hand, the other two Legend's of the Riftwar books.
I thought the idea of writing of collaborations was a good one butin this instance the result was disappointing. It just wasn't my cup of tea & i really struggled to finish it, the story never got near to grabbing hold unlike most of Raymond Feist's stories.
One star & a waste of time!
A different aproach - By: Jeffrey Setoe, 29 May 2006 
I must say that I have really enjoyed this particular book!! I have been a Feist fan for many years now & was excited with this book because:
1)With all the grand saga's popping up all around us, this was a refreshing break without travelling too far from the main plots of Feist his books. (There are several referals & names that a Feist reader would recognize from the Rift War Saga).
2)The three main characters are versatile & definately not the regular hero's you would expectin a Fantasy novel:-) Which makes it a somehow different approach but certainly not less than other Feist books.
3)Easy to read & definately with a degree of humour & without the need to read all the other Feist books to understand the worldin which it is playing.
Allin all it is different: with three very unlikely hero's being drawn into something they certainly do not want to be a part of. And an investigation for a murderer with a solution that describes the 3 hero's perfectly.....
Mystery in the Rift War - By: Matt Graubner, 29 Jul 2005 
This book was definately of a very different flavour than the rest of Feist's novels, however I believe it definately worked. If you are looking for an epic volumein the grand scheme of the Riftwars then this book is not for you. However, if you have fallenin love with Midkemia & Kelewan & you want to explore nooks & crannies of these worlds then Murderin LaMut is excellent.
Rosenberg successfully exports Kethol, Piroji, & Durine from his Guardians of the Flame series & they are unlike any of Feist's normal characters. Most of the original Riftwar cast consists of nobles, Elves, & honourable folk. These three however, are onlyin it for the money. It is refreshing to realize that there are more than just despicable villians & honourable hereoesin Midkemia--we get a close view into the life of three commoners (albeit well traveled mercenary commoners ;-)).
Now that I think about it I believe I would have been disappointed if this novel had followed the usual Feist fantasy "formula" (not that his writing is truly formulaic) & been some sort of a grand quest. This novel was meant to be a divergent view into Midkemia & it succeeds admirablyin my view. It isn't just the books that I enjoy, it is the worlds Feist has shown us & Murderin LaMut exposes an entirely new dimension of Midkemia.
One last point, the murder mystery proper doesn't show up until the end of the book--however I believe this is a mistake on the publisher's part when they wrote the description for the back of the book. Really this book is about Kethol, Pirojil, & Durine more than just the murder. Furthermore, the mystery may not be polished--but this isn't a world of precise police procedure, or modern investigative methods, & the three mercenaries aren't professional detectives. :-)
I would also reccomend The Empire Trilogy written with Janny Wurts for a similarly expansive & different view of Feist's world.
Better than the reviews I read before the book. - By: Ian Tapley, 24 Jan 2005 THE STORY:
Durine, Kethol & Pirojil find themselves stuckin LaMut during an especially harsh winter of the Riftwar. When a Kingdom noble & his wife are murderedin their beds, the three mercenaries have to find the killer or face dire consequences.
WHAT'S GOOD:
I know this is an unpopular book, but I think that's largely because it's such a radical change of pace & scale to Feist's other books, which puts Feist fans off. Personally, I was interested to see how a very different type of story could be played out against the familiar background of the Riftwar. What we get is a classically-styled murder mystery, but where the sleuth's aren't Poirot or Miss Marple, but a trio of cynical, self-interested mercenaries. This clever twist is capped nicely by the final result of the investigations (I won't tell you whodunnit). .
WHAT'S BAD:
To be honest, apart from being set on Midkemia, there's very little fantasy to this story, which will put off those looking for wizards & dragons etc. Similarly, fans of 'Magician' will find this book too small scale & differently styled.
