The Prince of Mourning

In 1873 New York City, orphaned 18-year-old Molly O’Rinn is determined to make her way as an independent woman working as a trainee nurse at Bellevue Hospital. She can also see and talk to ghosts, including the apparition of a mysterious, sad-eyed young man who appears to comfort grieving hospital patrons. Molly’s plans are derailed when she is suddenly whisked away to Tarrytown to act as a live-in nurse for Charles Voss, a wealthy young heir dying of tuberculosis. As she investigates Voss’s beautiful but strangely empty manor, she’s shocked to uncover a crypt, inside which she finds a corporeal young man who resembles the sad-eyed hospital apparition and is chained within an occult circle. Despite her misgivings about his supernatural origins and her desire to remain unattached to men, she finds herself intensely attracted to the stranger, whom she learns is a death god called Nin, the Prince of Mourning, who is trapped in the mortal realm. As the pair delve deeper into the secrets of Voss’s manor, they must rely on each other if they hope to make it out of the estate alive. Using clean and engaging prose, Bennett (Always Jane) spins a serpentine occult mystery with a gothic atmosphere that delivers steamy romance and propulsive adventure. The protagonists read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Oct.)