A Matter of Execution is a brilliant swashbuckling steampunk adventure that combines found family, heist antics and darker themes of war and classism in a really fun package. I've previously really enjoyed Olivia Atwater's historical romances that mix social commentary and fae and high society so I had high hopes for the combination of her talents and her husband, Nicholas Atwater. It's always interesting when you have two authors to see how their influences combine. In this case, it feels absolutely seamless and you can feel the touch of some of that social commentary but with a much stronger focus on an almost D&D style adventure and an eclectic cast of characters.

In this novella, the goblin captain William Blair is introduced as his crew has to work to save him from an execution and then get roped into a heist targeting the very person who ordered the execution. There is a very dry, clever sense of humor to everything that honestly reminds me a bit of Pratchett and I loved that while it is at its core a fun adventure, it still has a lot to say about the first impressions people immediately make based on stereotypes and how easy it is for people in power to dismiss others as less than. I also loved that it mixed classic fae with steampunk airships, that's a combo that I honestly don't think I've ever seen and it worked really well.

Really my only gripe about this story is that since it's acting as an introduction for the characters and it's not a small crew, there are a lot of scenes where characters are introduced and described and given the short length of the story, it sometimes felt repetitive.

Overall, I had a really great time with A Matter of Execution and I'd highly recommend the audiobook which is really well narrated by Nicholas Atwater himself. I was honestly impressed at the variety of accents and the emotional investment made it more fun to listen to than to read myself. If you enjoy high action, steampunk mixed with fae and a great found family, I'd definitely recommend it!