From debut author Mina Ikemoto Ghosh comes a stunningly illustrated, high-fantasy debut novel. Meet the Hakai Family Hellmakers: Purveyors of artisan hells and unlucky days to inflict on your enemies. They'll make it personal...for a price!
Hyo Hakai is a hellmaker, hired to create customized hells and unlucky days for your worst enemies.
When a demon destroys her village, Hyo and her brother flee to Onogoro ― an island where the gods of their land live among humans. The hellmakers' hereditary curse, however, won't allow Hyo to settle in quietly.
Hyo is curse-bound to investigate the deaths that come her way and avenge them. As she's pulled deeper into a tangled web of dark secrets, Hyo must navigate the intricate rules of Onogoro's gods without becoming their pawn. She'll quickly realize that murderers and gods have one thing in common ― they always think they can get away with it...
At least, that was before Hyo arrived.
In this breathtaking debut, author and illustrator Mina Ikemoto Ghosh weaves action, fantasy, and myth into an unforgettable illustrated murder-mystery novel.
"Ghosh's debut novel features lush, vivid descriptions, while her black-and-white illustrations, which evoke traditional Japanese wood engravings and ink and watercolor paintings, bring the characters to life with striking power." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A must-read...an unforgettable reading experience." —School Library Journal (starred review)
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Mina Ikemoto Ghosh is a British-Japanese writer, born in Surrey with family in Wakayama prefecture, Japan. Raised on a diet of Japanese murder-mysteries and British fantasy novels, her writing often ends up in the shadowy zone between the two. She has an MSc in Japanese Studies from the University of Oxford, with focuses on classical Japanese literature and contemporary anthropology, and uses these as sources of inspiration for her stories. She lives in Surrey.

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