by Yangsze Choo
First published 2024
Snow appears as a servant in a Chinese medicine shop, bringing luck to a family cursed to lose their eldest sons before age twenty-four. But Snow harbors deadly secrets. She is a fox spirit seeking revenge for her murdered child. In 1908 Manchuria, during the Qing Empire's final years, a courtesan dies frozen in a doorway amid whispers of fox magic. Detective Bao investigates her death, drawn by his lifelong fascination with fox gods that have always eluded him. As Snow tracks her child's killer from northern China to Japan, Bao pursues her trail. More bodies appear as both hunter and detective navigate a world where fox spirits transform into beautiful humans to collect qi from mortals. Snow's quest for vengeance drives her across borders while Bao closes in, each following their own understanding of truth in a landscape where ancient myths bleed into brutal reality. Their paths converge in a story about maternal love's fierce power.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, fantasy, asian-american
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, supernatural-elements
Setting: China, Japan, Manchuria
Period: 1908, Qing Empire
400 pages · ebook · Henry Holt and Co.
Content warnings: child-death, violence