Direct Descendant is a standalone cozy horror story from Canadian writer, Tanya Huff. I've been trying to read more canadian fiction lately, and this delightful queer story is set in Toronto and I just loved it!

Cassidy "Cassie" Prewitt is one of the four protectors of the Dark Force in her small town, Lake Argen. Their job is to keep strangers out. However, when one wanders literally into their world, and his wealthy family come looking for him, Cassie must work with a PI to stop an apocalypse from happening.

I've read a few cozy fantasy books, with Discworld and Legends and Lattes being my favourites, and I absolutely ate this up! Cassie is a part-time baker and part-time protector and it was a delight to see her PI, Melanie, try to work together to stop Armageddon!!! I loved watching the relationship bloom between the two of them, and I especially loved the Canadian-isms....

"Moose could be assholes" only in Canada!!!!!!

The reader is thrown into the story straight up, with the action happening practically from page 1. As much as I love a slow world building, I loved this even more!!! You eventually learn what the town is all about, and it was really interesting to read about the protectors and the Dark! Add wit, sarcasm and a healthy dose of romance and I was absolutely hooked!

If you love cozy fantasy, you need to add Direct Descendant to your Spring reading list!!!! It's the perfect book to curl up with, as we come out of the cold winter months.

A very unique story, the plot was a little slow to start but the world building made up for this, immersive and fully fleshed characters, really enjoyed this overall and would read more by this author for sure

This is a great romp in a small town, where magic and contracts with supernatural forces maintain the status quo. It's got excellent characters including two adorable and fierce protagonists, terrific dialogue, and perfect pacing. It's a standalone, and I liked it so much I'm going to go read more of the author's work, and lucky for there is a TON of it.

This supremely cozy horror story is directly up my alley - I was so surprised to see how split some reviews have been! Up in Northern Ontario, there is a town where everyone is happy, healthy, and has enough money to only pursue the jobs they enjoy as a hobby... yes, it might have come about as a result of black magic, but that was ages ago! Sure, the kids have training to kill Shadows that might infiltrate, but it gets them outdoors, right? The blasé acceptance of the dark entity on the other side of the silver mine is delightful to me, I adored this book.

I would definitely think the perfect read-alongs would be The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by CM Waggoner and Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper.

Loved this, started reading it whilst in the emergency room and could not put it down. Finished the whole thing in less than 36 hours, and that's with me too drugged to read for most of that time! The cozy eldritch horror vibes were perfect, the characters mostly acted like adults and used their words, and T'Geyer is the cutest little eldritch horror pet ever, and should have a stuffy.

I really loved this novel. I have not laughed out loud at a book in a very long time and I am so glad that this was my first read of 2025. Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it’s worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.

Cassidy, the Mouth for the Dark, and Melanie, the out-of-towner English teacher and accidental PI, were fun characters to follow and I enjoyed being in both of their heads, although I will say I truly adored Cassidy's attitude and level of snark. Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun is such a great tagline for this story. The eldritch creatures, particularly Alice and T'geyer, and Melanie's mother were my two favorite parts of the book, aside from the leads. And while I do love reading standalones, I would happily return to this world to follow more of Cassidy's crazy adventures.

My only complaint, and it truly is a small one, is that I wish we got a little more information about the history of the town a little bit faster. It's not that I couldn't follow what was happening. Huff does an excellent job of dropping you into the middle of a crazy situation and pulling you along for the ride, but understanding the full story of the Four, how the Agreement works, and what happened to the previous Mouth added so much to my enjoyment of the world and the locals that I wish it had just come along a little sooner.

Thank you so much Tanya Huff, DAW books, and NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cosy Canadian sapphic romance with bonus eldritch horrors (at least one of which is really cute!). I really liked Cassie and her approach to life and her vocation, and I liked Melanie, with her thing about wealth, and the Big Secret is handled well. Gentle humor and storytelling and I think the most fun I've had with a Huff book since "Summon the Keeper". Stands alone but I'd be very happy to read more in this town.

For anyone who has wondered how a tiny town can support so many small businesses, Huff has an answer: a pact with the Dark. That's what keeps Lake Argen running on an endless silver mine.

This is COZY cozy. An unexpected blend of cozy mystery, romance novel and, yes, horror elements.

I loved this! The tone is most similar to Huff’s Summon the Keeper, but with a charming sapphic relationship.

Fantastically Canadian!

Cozy horror with a queer romance subplot in a small Canadian town? Count me in! Cassie Prewitt is the mouth of the dark, and as such she’s learning to live with her power and responsibility in a small town where everyone knows who she is and has preconceived ideas about how she’ll handle things. When a strange man comes to town and sacrifices himself to the dark, Cassie’s got to step up and quickly. But when Melanie comes to town not long after, sent by the strange man’s grandmother to find answers, things get complicated.

Everything from the world-building to the characterization to the relationship dynamics was delightful–and delightfully creepy. One of my favorite reads of the year, hands-down.

This was absolutely delightful: a cozy mystery horror romance (say that three times fast!) set in a small Canadian town with... some oddities. Eccentricities? Whichever. The characters are well-drawn, the horror/mystery is well-done and impactful, and the romance is actually romantic. Like other reviewers, I've been reading Huff's work for decades but this is a real delight, pulling together her humor and her horror-writing skills to make a really engaging whole. Like the very best humorous speculative fiction, this doesn't shy away from the dark realities underlying some of the world-building, but just because the world can be serious and terrifying doesn't mean it can't also be very funny (and, in this case, as one of Huff's characters despairingly says, very Canadian). An instant (and probably frequent) re-read.

This is the most hilarious, adorable romp of a romantic horror novel that I can imagine, and I loved every minute of it. It's set in a small Canadian town full of hilarious characters all trying to have a good life and do their best...

...and they just happen to all be under the patronage of a Dark entity from Below, as part of an Agreement that's held for the last nearly-200 years. In exchange for them doing their part, the Dark makes sure the town is safe and well looked after (meaning, among other things, that they are one of the VERY rare northern Canadian small towns with excellent cell service). The secret has been safely kept for all that time...until now.

Cassidy, the first heroine, has grown up there and takes it all for granted, even after she's Chosen as the new Mouth of the Dark, meaning that when consulted, she has to be a vessel for the Dark's voice - but everything goes wrong when she discovers an outsider sacrificing (or, as they say in the town, "s-wording" himself) with strategic intent.

Melanie, the second heroine, is sent up from Toronto by the stranger's rich grandmother to investigate what's happened...and of course the two of them fall in love. And it's hilarious!

Here are a few lines I highlighted along the way:

Talking about the ancient (REALLY ancient) library volunteer, "This place couldn't function without Miss Peggi, but she's doing Toddlers, Tomes, and Tombs and hasn't a minute to spare."

"Aunt Jean glared at all three of us over the top of her glasses. 'We do not cuddle eldritch horrors!'"

"Facing the apocalypse is easier with chocolate chips."

My one and only note is that in the first 2 chapters, both from insider Cassidy's PoV, I was pretty confused about the worldbuilding. (The characters made so many references I didn't understand that I took a time out to check whether I'd made a mistake and this was actually Book 2 in an ongoing series.) However, the dialogue in those first 2 chapters was still so snappy and engaging, and all the stuff that I did get was SO fun that I hung on and kept on trying anyway...and then it all snapped into place and became effortlessly wonderful and SO much fun from around Chapter 3 onwards. So, please don't give up if the first chapter or two are hard to parse!

I will definitely be re-reading this a lot, and I already have a few people in mind who should DEFINITELY be given copies as gifts once it's out. :)

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

A great read - fantasy, magic, gay love and a sprinkling of horror. Well written and entertaining, very enjoyable. I hope this is a series. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I really enjoyed how good the cozy horror element was in this storyline. The overall feel worked and had that concept that I was looking for from the description. I was invested in what was happening to the characters and how they were written. Tanya Huff has a strong writing style and was glad I was able to read this. It uses the romance element perfectly and had that overall element that I wanted.