An Amateur Witch’s Guide to Murder

An air of dark whimsy pervades Valentin’s thoroughly entertaining debut. In the five years since Mateo Borrero’s less-than-maternal witch of a mother went missing, the 23-year-old has just been trying to get by; not helping matters is the fact that he’s possessed by a demon. Working at a print shop barely pays the bills for him and his best friend and roommate, Ophelia De La Garza, who finds it hard to hold on to a job due to her partially involuntary powers of astral projection. Doing magic makes Mateo’s demonic possession worse, but it’s his best path to earning some fast cash, so he puts up an online ad offering his supernatural services. Enter the wealthy and endearingly naive Topher Nystrom, who hires Mateo to break the bad-luck curse that keeps killing the people around him. As Mateo and Ophelia dig into Topher’s life and the magic that’s affecting him, Mateo’s situation grows worse and they discover things may be more connected than they thought. Valentin puts a light comedic twist on a gripping story filled with dark magic and murder, and a budding romance between Mateo and Topher adds to the fun. Fans of queer romantic fantasy and cozy horror will be delighted. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary. (Oct.)