First published 2026
Poppy Reed packs her ceramics studio and moves across the country to marry Celia Marie Fox, a wealthy art dealer she's known for just six months. Their new home is Busirane, an isolated manor filled with art and mystery. Strange sounds echo through the halls at night. Statues seem to watch her every move. Celia warns Poppy to stay away from the locked basement, but offers no explanation. When Celia leaves for a business trip, a snowstorm traps Poppy alone in the house. The whispers grow louder. The statues move closer. Poppy's curiosity about the forbidden basement becomes an obsession. She begins to question everything about her whirlwind romance and her wife's past. When she finally descends those basement stairs, the truth she uncovers threatens not just her marriage, but her life. This gothic retelling of Bluebeard weaves ceramic art and sapphic romance into a tale of secrets that kill.
Genres: romance, horror, adult-fiction, mystery-thriller, gothic, lesbian-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, haunting, intimate, psychological, suspenseful
Tropes: gothic-mystery, isolated-setting, sapphic-romance, secrets-and-lies, unreliable-partner
Setting: Busirane
336 pages · Paperback · Crooked Lane Books
Content warnings: death, gaslighting, toxic-relationship