How to describe this utterly captivating book? I’m not sure but I’ll try. It begins when Imogen, who is a poet, is gruesomely murdered and her throat is slashed. A year later, Sister Maeve - who is part of an order of nuns who, basically, help the dead cross over the veil - is spending the evening in a cemetery as part of her duties. Then, she hears something. What? Who? It was undead Imogen, of course. Maeve promises to help solve Imogen’s murder.

The world building in this novel was exquisite, the premise unique, the characters were enchanting, and the ending superb. You can tell the author really knows the island city of Lenorum and these characters well, but not only that, the author loves them, too. I could not get enough of Maeve with her fellow sisters, whom she clearly both liked and loved. This was found family at its best. The criminal elite were nefarious and villainous in the very best way. Oh, and Orion! Oof, what a character. I looked forward to each of his scenes. The love, the loyalty, the betrayals in this book were exceptionally well done. My only complaint … that there isn’t a sequel out already for me to dive into. I surely hope there will be and I’ll be first in line to read it. (This includes a sequel in world starring different characters, as long as some favorites pop in to say hello). Oh, make that two complaints…why does The Bookshop Teashop not exist in real life? The Bookshop Teashop is the store of my dreams. Books! Tea! I want to go and I want to go right now. Okay, that isn’t a fair complaint, but I still wish it existed.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I highly recommend this dark fantasy with a side of mystery and a dash of romance. Solid five star book.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an arc of this book.