Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. With well-timed humor and perfect scares, this one is a keeper for horror fans. Though some overly familiar elements mar the otherwise tight plot, in They Kingfisher has crafted a truly terrifying monster with minimal descriptions that leave the reader’s imagination to run wild. Carrot and Simon escape but are drawn back by recurring dreams of what they’ve seen. They can read minds and have a habit of flaying the people who stumble upon their home, leaving visitors’ bones neatly piled. On the other end they find a strange world comprised of tiny islands covered in willows and containing concrete bunkers-and a mysterious group of occupants simply referred to as They. With the help of Simon, the barista from the coffee shop next door, Carrot sets out to discover where the hall leads. Then a hole mysteriously opens in the museum’s wall, revealing a hallway that should not exist. The Mystery of Hollow Places is a strange book.

The “museum” houses a hodgepodge of curiosities, taxidermy, and assorted knickknacks, but it’s always held good memories for Carrot. There’s a reason for everything, if you look hard enough.

Vernon is already highly decorated, having won a Hugo Award for her webcomic Digger, another Hugo for her novelette The Tomato Thief, and a Nebula Award for her short story Jackalope Wives. Recently divorced Kara (aka Carrot) moves in with her uncle Earl to help run his Wonder Museum. The Hollow Places is the latest supernatural thriller from author and illustrator Ursula Vernon, writing here as T. Kingfisher ( The Twisted Ones) imagines the horrors lying between worlds in this chilling supernatural thriller.

The hollow places book