Scorched Grace (A Sister Holiday Mystery #1)

A NY Times Best Crime Novel of the Year

A NY Times Book Review Editor’s choice

Indie Next Pick

One of Apple’s Best Books of the Year

An Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Indie Bestseller (St. Louis, Boswell)

Boston Magazine’s Best Author of 2023 

2023 New England Book Award Finalist

°°° 

Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this “unique & confident” debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).

When Saint Sebastian’s School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood & their surrounding community are thrust into chaos. Unsatisfied with the officials’ response, sardonic & headstrong Sister Holiday becomes determined to unveil the mysterious attacker herself & return her home & sanctuary to its former peace. Her investigation leads down a twisty path of suspicion & secrets in the sticky, oppressive New Orleans heat, turning her against colleagues, students, & even fellow Sisters along the way.

Sister Holiday is more faithful than most, but she’s no saint. To piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must first reckon with the sins of her checkered past-& neither task will be easy.

An exciting start to Margot Douaihy’s bold series for Gillian Flynn Books that breathes new life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Grace is a fast-paced & punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the  very end.

°°° 

Margot Douaihy is a Lebanese American originally from Scranton, PA, now living in Northampton, MA. She is the author of the poetry collection Bandit/Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr 

°°° 

“Cops didn’t trust me & I sure as hell didn’t trust them. I’d already handed over the glove, & I’d give the blouse to Riveaux first, to see what she made of it.

“Uh-huh.” Grogan surveyed me head to toe. “Premonitions.”

Decker laughed.

Even in my scarf &