A rain-drenched Cork mystery of a reclusive coder, a dead gallery owner and a skull that won’t let him forget.
In rain-soaked Cork, young coder Mason lives high above the River Lee with a human skull on his shelf and a past he won’t look at too closely. When glamorous gallery owner Cassandra is found dead in the river, his quiet routines of code, tea and avoidance begin to buckle. Visiting academic Tim spots the body; Garda detective Bria catches the case. As they circle the same death from different angles, they’re drawn into a tangle of art, money and ghosts that runs deeper than any of them expects, forcing Mason to face the skull on his shelf, the river that takes people, the lover he couldn’t save and the men who still want things from him.
In rain-soaked Cork, young coder Mason lives high above the River Lee with a human skull on his shelf and a past he won’t look at too closely. When glamorous gallery owner Cassandra is found dead in the river, his quiet routines of code, tea and avoidance begin to buckle. Visiting academic Tim spots the body; Garda detective Bria catches the case. As they circle the same death from different angles, they’re drawn into a tangle of art, money and ghosts that runs deeper than any of them expects, forcing Mason to face the skull on his shelf, the river that takes people, the lover he couldn’t save and the men who still want things from him.
- For readers who like rain-drenched campus cities and queer stories rooted in place
For readers who like morally tangled MM romance and slow-burn connection under pressure
For readers who like art-world intrigue, forged paintings and money-laundering secrets
For readers who like ambiguous ghosts, psychological hauntings and stubborn hope after trauma
For readers who like emotionally intense mysteries with several on-page intimate scenes between men and regular strong language
Genre: Gay Romance