Book Review: The Last Vigilant by Mark A. Latham

For someone with a master’s degree in fantasy, a blog themed around fantasy, and a major writing project focused on fantasy, I really haven’t talked about fantasy at all here, have I? Well, we can change that here. I received a free ARC in exchange for honest feedback, and I’m excited about this one. It’s been a while since I read a fantasy that I really enjoyed and stayed up to finish.

For this one, imagine if Miss Marple had Sherlock’s skills and was also a wizard in a world where gods and demons can show up, assisted by a maverick detective who’s the black sheep of the police force. This is kind of what we’re looking at here. Children are going missing and nobody has really cared. The child of a neighboring general, in the kingdom as a political hostage, disappears, and now suddenly everyone cares.

Holt Hawley is a sergeant in the high companies, the elite royal soldiers, except he’s not from any of the military families, meaning his comrades hate him, his officers want to get rid of him, and he was blamed for a massacre. Sent off in disgrace on an impossible mission, he leads a small team of failures and washouts to try and find the last True Vigilant, famous for their powers and insight, as opposed to a current Royal Vigilant, known mostly for religious fanaticism and sadism. The true Vigilant order was disbanded decades prior, hence the impossibility, except for a ring that had shown up unexpectedly.

Expecting a hero, he instead finds an old woman who really doesn’t want to get involved with the messiness of politics and intrigue again. Fortunately, she relents.

We find ourselves with a traditional locked-room mystery: the child disappeared from his bedroom, right next to the duke’s daughter’s room and the nurse’s room. Nobody heard anything suspicious, nobody saw anything suspicious. He was there that night and the next morning he was gone. We have plenty of suspects though— the nurse, the duke, the older cousin, raiders from across the border, rebels, witches. It’s layer after layer of deceit and mystery.

And it’s a really good mystery, too. I never managed to guess the outcome, even though all the clues were present through most of the story. There was a story going on behind the mystery as well, dealing with ancient legends, rumors of saints, and conspiracies.

Take away the mystery and it’s a very traditional fantasy, but it felt very fresh. Part of it definitely comes from the mystery elements. The other part of it definitely comes from the fact it’s genuinely heartfelt. There’s no tongue-in-cheek, fourth-wall-breaking, winking-at-the-audience that pokes fun at the story. No cheesy one liners or Marvel-esque pauses to give time for a joke to land. Not very many jokes at all, if we’re being honest. It’s story is taken completely seriously. And rightfully so, considering how things all end up.

Like any good mystery, Latham keeps the focus on the core characters and the suspects. It’s still a fairly large cast, all things considered, and I struggled to keep some of them apart, especially on the duke’s council. As the book went on, the number of suspects decreased, which helped. Plus, as the story went on, the individual personalities started becoming stronger and easier to distinguish.

Unlike the last few books I’ve reviewed, grief is not a big theme here for our protagonist. Regret certainly is, and despair, and hopelessness. Holt is a black sheep among black sheep. His fellow soldiers hate him, the nobles despise him, the common people blame him for a massacre, and he feels all he’s good for is fighting and killing. The mystery, for him, is a chance to do something that matters. Something that will make the world a better place. It’s why he joined the army in the first place, before becoming disillusioned.

It’s not quite a redemption story, all things considered, but it’s something deeper. A resurrection story, metaphorically speaking? Perhaps, rather, it’s the story of finding purpose and direction not as a youth, but as an adult. And, glancing at the job market and economy, that seems pretty relevant.

The worldbuilding was familiar, but not derivative. Compared to lots of fantasy novels, this one had a relatively small geographic scope, which kept the focus on the mystery, even while hinting at events beyond the border as part of a broader story. The most unique elements were in its religion and cosmology— demonic and angelic both, as well as the true nature of saints. I’ve read very few fantasy novels that deal so explicitly with demons, saints, and angels, but I certainly appreciate them. The only one I can think of off the top of my mind is Elizabeth Moon’s Paksworld books. Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion books may also involve them, but it’s been a very long time since I read them, so I can’t say for certain. And it’s unfortunate that more people don’t include saints, because they were a huge part of medieval Catholicism.

I’m hoping there are lots more books in this series, because the end of the book certainly feels more like a beginning than an end.

Overall, 5/5 stars. Recommended for every fantasy fan.

The Last Vigilant releases June 23, 2025 and can be ordered here (my Bookshop.org affiliate link).