skygiants

[nodding]

At Amberleaf Fair is by Phyllis Ann Karr, who's done a number of very good and very interesting things -- the "Frostflower & Thorn" sowrd-and-sorcery series (about a pair of female mercenaries who -- unlike Lackey's later Tarma & Kethry -- really were romantic partners), and also Idylls of the Queen, which is in fact essentially a cozy murder mystery set in King Arthur's court.