With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.
Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.
Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.
So two things immediately made me love this book. First, Selena has a spoiled old black lab mix with a white muzzle who is a shameless attention whore but also likes to pretend she’s never had affection in her life. Let me tell you, that is the EXACT description of a good friend’s dog who we housesit. My friend will cheerfully agree, he’s the worst dog. Lives a life of total pampering but acts like any moment he’ll be shoved out into the cold. Dare to move him over a bit on the couch (not OFF the couch mind you, just over a bit so you can sit) and he’ll stare at you like you are withholding meals and beat him with a belt. And he does it in front of strangers who then coo at him as he acts like little Orphan Annie. The worst.
The second part is that there is a VERY annoying peacock. My husband grew up with peacocks (farm family thing) and he hates them. Turns out, peacocks kind of suck. They’re dumb, mean, and have a very annoying call. The only people who like peacocks are people who have never lived with them.
And that was all the first chapter! Dog and peacock aside, this book was a delight. The characters were awesome, the setting was really cool, and unsurprisingly because it’s T. Kingfisher, the writing was great. It’s on the cozier side (which is what she’s been writing lately) but still kept me invested. It’s one of my new favorites of hers. Definitely give it a try. Also Grandma Billy is my hero and it’s got the best priest you’ve seen since the most recent Knives Out.
