Painted Devils by Margaret Owen (mild spoilers)

A scrappy former maid and jewel thief must outwit gods, injustice, and her own past in this sequel to Little Thieves by Margaret Owen.

After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a deadly curse, and finding romance with the vexingly scrupulous junior prefect Emeric Conrad, Vanja had one great mystery left: her long-lost birth family . . . and whether they would welcome a thief. But in her search for an honest trade, she hit trouble and invented a god, the Scarlet Maiden, to scam her way out. Now that lie is growing out of control - especially when Emeric arrives to investigate and the Scarlet Maiden manifests to claim him as a virgin sacrifice.

For his final test to become a prefect, Emeric must determine whether Vanja is guilty of serious fraud or if the Scarlet Maiden - and her claim to him - is genuine. Meanwhile, Vanja is chasing an alternative sacrifice that could be their way out. The hunt leads her not only into the lairs of monsters and the paths of gods, but the ties of her past.

And with what should be the simplest way to save Emeric hanging over their heads, he and Vanja must face a more dangerous question: Is there a future for a thief and a prefect, and at what price?

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A year and a half ago, Little Thieves was an entertaining but slow to start fairy tale retelling. Painted Devils is a huge step up; it's fun from the start, the characters are more confident and feel more true to life - and everything is a step more complicated, with plots and tricks and plans running over, around and under each other all the time.

My constant plea applies here - recaps! Little Thieves published in October 2021, so anyone reading it then is coming back to this a year and a half later. I remembered the basics - loose Goose Girl retelling with lots of other vaguely Germanic mythology thrown in, anti-heroine, enemy turned love interest (I didn't remember his name, I'll be honest.) That's about it, which meant I was vaguely confused for quite a lot of this. 

However that's a very common thing and it didn't really affect my enjoyment. This novel goes a lot deeper into Vanja's history and expands her found family (love that trope) considerably. I saw a few reviews complain about the cliffhanger ending; I've read worse, it's annoying rather than terrifying, and it's mostly annoying because now the third book is going to spend time going back over ground we covered in this one. (But I'll probably have forgotten about it by then, anyway.)

Vanja grows and comes into herself a lot in this one, becoming - or at least getting closer to - the heroine we knew she was all along. I'm very excited to read the third one and find out what happens next. It's going to be a great ride.

(Also, I adore the sneaky Take That reference!)

Painted Devils publishes on the 16th of May, 2023, currently only in the UK. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.