“MSgt Hamdi, you’re too clever to let the galaxy have.”

Msgt Hamdi was at the end of her second enlistment. Signing the next should have been easy. What was stopping her? Hamdi needed time to think, and overseeing a ceasefire with Acre company should have given her the time she needed.

Nothing is ever easy in a war zone.

The locals are unusually suspicious. It’s not until Hamdi and a squad of Hospitallers finds a friendly face in a cafe that things begin to look up.

There is no certainty in war.

When a mortar attack destroys the cafe, killing adults and children, things look even grimmer. Now, with both sides of the conflict blaming the other, Hamdi and Acre company have their work cut out for them. They have 24 hours to discover the perpetrators or the war resumes and more people will die.

External and internal struggles tug at Hamdi from all sides. Can she find the killers? Can she find an answer to her own dilemma?

Deceit on Panchala is the second book in the Stories of the Orphan Corps series. It is also a stand-alone story in the burgeoning universe of the Hospitallers’ Orphan Corps. If you enjoy an exciting military tale layered with political intrigue, and seasoned with engaging characters, Deceit on Panchala is your kind of story.