Inquisitor Damulis is a private investigator (inquisitor) in the highly magical medieval city of Feal. He blends wit and irreverence with tenacity and toughness, in the vein of noir detectives. A traveler amongst the planes of existence, Damulis spent time in a place of science and technology. He adapted his tools and skills accordingly. Wizard's Shield is the third book in the series. Damulis finds his relationships, both platonic and romantic, falling apart. Since he gave up the zen of the monastery for the later, including the strength of his qi, he finds himself reeling. Confounding the situation is the newly minted wizard, Alaina Reymond. She bristles with magical power, much of it innate, but the cloud of her past hangs over her. Damulis wants to help the young woman, but he isn't sure he can trust her. From the back cover: "The Crown City pulses with tension. Assassins stalk the Royal Family. Their growing threat is a shadow from an old back alley, reaching out of a past when crime, not the king, reigned over the streets. "My new client, a seemingly ordinary merchant, might be small-time compared to that, but danger looms large. To say a couple of goons are shaking him down is like saying Infernus is a little hot. He tells me that one of them is a damned apeman. Right. I've been hiring out my services as an inquisitor and martial artist for a while now. I've had my fair share of clients lie to me for their own twisted schemes. "But it's my client's apprentice who puzzles me. Her sweet face hit me like a roundhouse kick, and her bitter attitude threatens to finish the job. She's a newly minted wizarding-type, the kind I try to stay away from. She's bristling with magical power, but something about her says she needs my help more than the merchant, even if she can't admit it to herself."