Someone or something is killing priests in the city of Riverview, and they are being murdered in horrible, gruesome ways. They seem to have been tortured, sodomized and dismembered, but no murder weapon or other evidence is being left at the crime scenes. Detective Crozier, of the Riverview police force, is puzzled beyond comprehension. Whoever is committing these horrid crimes, is doing so with a strong and savage rage, and seems to have near-superhuman strength. The bodies of these priests are being tossed around like rag dolls, and with such brute, violent force that nearly every bone in every area of their bodies is literally being crushed.
Detective Crozier is scrambling to figure out what it is that all of these murdered priests have in common, and time is running out. If he can piece this mystery together, maybe he can find a way to stop the malicious force that seems to be dead set on killing every priest in the area. Can he figure out what is killing these priests and why they are being targeted before the murderous culprit strikes again? And, if this killer truly is a spirit, how do you stop a killer that you cannot see?
Antique store owner Liz brings home a Victorian taxidermy hound from auction, unwittingly unleashing dark forces on her wife and son.
*****
Nat Loman has finally married the love of her life, Liz, and is getting used to her role as stepmother to Liz's 5-year-old son, Liam. The Loman family runs a bustling antique business so they attend a sale where a striking, black taxidermied hound is up for auction. Liz picks it up for the business, but it ends up being stored in their home, where Nat notices strange things occurring. She quickly discovers the past residents had died violently. Then she hears from a friend about the myth of "the devil's dog", a hound that perches in the shadows, tearing families apart from the inside. Soon, people around the Lomans are dying, and Liz is changing, darkening. It's up to Nat to save the woman she loves from the darkness closing in, and to save Liam from danger no matter what she has to sacrifice.
[[Winner of the 2018 Wattys "Hidden Gems" category]]
[[word count: 60,000-70,000 words]]