"A debut that is ingenious, exciting, enthralling, and impossible to put down! A true original!"* Roger Kilbourne has the ability to "cross over" into the land of the dead and speak with its residents. It is a startling gift, and not a pleasant one. Roger manages to escape his brutal uncle, and thinks his new job at the palace laundry will keep him safe; instead, there are worse dangers. First, Roger is infatuated with bewitching, willful Lady Cecilia; next, he is pulled into the midst of dangerous court intrigue. Soon Roger is using his gift as a way to get the life he dreams of - even if it involves deeds so unthinkable that both the living and the dead shrink from them. "An imaginative dark fantasy . . . The premise is fascinating, and the depiction of the afterlife and its oblivious denizens both creepy and eerily serene." - "Kirkus Reviews" "Splendidly developed." - "BCCB" * Connie Willis, New York Times bestselling author