Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.

PLOT SUMMARY:

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos’ life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos’ backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection. 

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable. 

Then, someone is murdered.

Poor, alone, and with a history of ‘hysterics’, Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she’ll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.

GRADE: B+

REVIEW:

The first few chapters completely reeled me in this intriguing and particular story about Roos a girl who holds seances with her mother for money. But when a widow Agnes Knoop comes in for a séance but decides to buy Roos company instead, is when we enter the gothic novel era. All the while, in the present time, we the readers know that something has happened because Roos is being held responsible for the murder and a psychiatrist is trying to figure out exactly what happened.

As much as the writing is lush and descriptive, the pacing kind of lags – but I find myself much more interested in the story when we’re in the present time. Perhaps because the writing is mostly dialogue in those cases and the pacing is swift during those scenes. The mystery is intriguing, and I love the sapphic romance in this – and the two main characters, Roos and Agnes, are very interesting and unique.

I recommend this book if you’re into Gothic literature, love ghost stories, and want a mystery worth reading.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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