Silas Umber has accepted his role as Undertaker of Lichport when he receives an invitation to Arvale, the ancestral manor of the Umbers, which lies in the Shadowlands. It's a call he can't refuse, and given the interference from those closest to him, Silas feels it the perfect time to spend so time away from Lichport.

Arvale is much more than he thought it would be. It's a strange and dangerous place that holds horrors and wonders beyond his imagination. The residents of Arvale have waited a long time for Silas. They want him to preside over the Doom Door, honoring the archaic rite that binds the dead in judgment. Silas, assumes the role of Janus, The Watcher of the Threshold, but what he doesn't know can harm him. Silas must right an ancient wrong and keep the promises he's made to his family or be bound himself by ancient law until his debt is paid.

MISTLE CHILD is the second book in The Undertaken Trilogy by Ari Berk. I absolutely love Death Watch, the first in the series. I'd hoped to see Silas exploring more of Lichport and meeting the citizens, both dead and alive, who stay in a town who holds so closely to the old customs, but that is not the case. MISTLE CHILD takes place in Arvale, that strange manor in the Shadowlands that is a law unto itself. I've mixed feelings about this. The residents of Arvale didn't hold my interest nearly as much as the residents of Lichport. As they're all dead at Arvale, except a boy named Lars who wandered through the gateway accidently, their motives for clinging to the manor and wanting Silas's help are highly suspicious. I found myself getting frustrated right along with Silas when no one at Arvale would give him a straight answer.

MISTLE CHILD is a connecting novel, in my opinion. It doesn't feel like it's a novel that can stand alone without the first and the third to prop it up. Everything that happens in MISTLE CHILD must happen so Lych Way, the third in the trilogy, comes to pass. Reading all three back-to- back as I did allowed me to see the connection and how artfully they're tied together, but MISTLE CHILD doesn't have the strength of Death Watch's plot or the moving climax of Lych Way. I do still recommend MISTLE CHILD because it's a vital part of The Undertaken Trilogy, and also because Ari Berk can still astound with his beautifully haunting prose and vivid descriptions. The walls of Arvale do indeed hold more secrets than Silas can know.

MISTLE CHILD is at heart another aspect of death, one that isn't shown in Death Watch. Older customs are shown and it is interesting to see the evolution of death as societies change. For a younger reader, MISTLE CHILD will provide the thrilling danger or mysterious lands, the joy of finding friends where you least expect them, and the terror of creatures who hide in the dark.