Books

The book critiqued institutions, foregrounded sexuality and retained some lyricism, without losing the compulsive page-turning playfulness of a breezy read…its prose would set Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade or Robert B. Parker’s Spenser at ease.

“A badass, brilliant queer nun solving a murder mystery in New Orleans? How could I not fall in love with this book? You will, too!”

“Margot Douaihy’s bold entry into the hardboiled genre revitalizes it for our times. Skillfully plotted, propulsive, and deeply engaged with the communities it represents, Scorched Grace is one of the best crime fiction debuts I’ve come across in a long while.”

“One chapter into Margot Douaihy’s Scorched Grace and you’ll be ready to follow Sister Holiday wherever her instincts take her. Vibrant, crackling and deliciously insubordinate, it’s a mystery full of trapdoors and surprises but with a keen emotional force that leaves you shaken, hooked.”

“Douaihy’s prose is fresh and energetic, and she brings the delightfully original character of Sister Holiday vividly to life. Holiday believably leads her own investigation, and the story satisfies right up until the very twisty end.”

“Harrowing and gorgeously written, with an unforgettable protagonist— Sister Holiday, “the first punk nun”— Margot Douaihy’s Scorched Grace takes readers on a searing journey through faith, fire, and female rage. A brilliant debut mystery.”

“Margot Douaihy’s Scorched Grace is pure, hard-boiled delight, and so is its protagonist, Sister Holiday. I can’t wait for the next installment.”

“Scorched Grace burns with the wholehearted energy of faith, love, and transgression. Sister Holiday embodies the frailties of faith, the contradictions of humanity, and the joy of sisterhood in all its forms.”

“Fearless, ebullient, and twisty as hell, Scorched Grace remixes the crime novel for our current age, and debuts a magnetic noir heroine, whose brash wit and profound soulfulness command our instant and utter devotion.”

“I inhaled this book. Sister Holiday drew me in with attitude and world-wisdom that, as she herself says, holds a kind of grace; meanwhile the hot, gnarly, beautiful world of New Orleans and all the edgy, intimate characters of the convent, school, and investigation (and, of course, the series of deadly arson attacks that drive Holiday and the book), had me turning the pages. Margot Douaihy gives Sister Holiday a sharp tongue and a body blessed by ink, and in this story Douaihy’s writing is the fuel, the spark, the oxygen. It is the fire and the ashes.”

“I read this is one greedy gulp on a hot August day. I loved it. In the American tradition of hard-boiled detectives, this was full of sweat, heat, and a lingering acrid smoke that pervaded the whole book. I could almost feel the grime under my fingernails as I read it. Sister Holiday is utterly unique – a gold-toothed nun with a history of addictions that still haunts her and a faith that is real, passionate, and anything but saccharine. She is a courageous truth-teller, even when she needs to tell the truth about herself.”

“Stunning fiction debut and series launch…This briskly plotted master class in character development makes the most of its New Orleans setting.”

“Douaihy, a poet and professor who shares Sister Holiday’s punk sensibility, immerses the reader in her hyperlocal New Orleans setting and the murky depths of Sister Holiday’s tormented soul. Her prose is frequently lyrical and often lacerating, her characters layered and intriguing. It’s not surprising in the slightest that this series starter is the first book published by Gillian Flynn’s eponymous new imprint. Scorched Grace is both entertaining and devastating, dominated by a queer sleuth with a clever, curious mind and a fatalistic yet somehow still hopeful heart.”

Scorched Grace marks the ferocious prose debut of Margot Douaihy, who introduces us to perhaps the most unique heroine in the history of the hard-boiled mystery genre. Sister Holiday is both devout and profane, caring deeply about her God and her faith and her mission, even if she doesn’t have much patience for the trappings of orthodoxy and tradition. I’m really interested in seeing where the rest of the series goes, in this first offering from Gillian Flynn’s publishing imprint.

“Holiday is an interesting character, and her story is well plotted.”

“A powerful story about religion and sin, family, and secrets…Scorched Grace is a unique and emotional novel, set against the backdrop of New Orleans in all its sticky, sweaty heat and unrelenting beauty and charm…When the ending hits, it is delightfully unexpected, bringing all the plot’s twists and turns to one satisfying finale. Scorched Grace has all of the makings of an award-winning novel, and I see Douaihy skyrocketing to fame. Her novel is similar to creative, renowned works by authors like Douglas Stuart, and Douaihy’s unique and modern writing should receive similar accolades.”

“The rough, sarcastic, first-person voice of Scorched Grace seizes the reader in a headlock from the first page… Holiday is prayerful, funny, cruel, and exhausted: in short, excellent company…Though the history of hard-boiled detective novels skews undeniably toward one kind of identity, Scorched Grace blazes a queer path forward for the genre. Here’s praying for a long series with Sister Holiday at the helm.”

“[A] confident, well-paced thriller—presenting a wide assortment of possible suspects, and never giving away too much at once… we are kept guessing about the identity of the killer until the final pages…a welcome introduction to the queer detective nun whom we didn’t know we needed.”

“Scorched Grace is brutal and brilliant and one hell of a prose novel debut.”

“Scorched Grace is like no other book you’ve ever read.”

“Margot Douaihy’s chain-smoking nun Sister Holiday may be the most original character you’ll come across for quite some time. Douaihy wanted to reclaim pulp tropes for a female protagonist, and I have to say, Sister Holiday is punk AF. Set in New Orleans, Scorched Grace takes place at a Catholic school where an arson attack has harmed several students. Sister Holiday, a fan of detective fiction, is ready to solve the case (or else face suspicion herself).”

“The sacred meets the profane head on in Margot Douaihy’s debut mystery. It’s funny. It’s touching. Its honesty is refreshing, and we hesitate to compare the writing or the plot to anything prior. At times poetic and other moments full of zest. Sister Holiday breathes life into every scene and moment of this book.”

“Margot Douaihy has created an instantly memorable character – edgy, headstrong, hardboiled, deeply flawed, darkly funny, with a voice that crackles and burns with passion and wit. Sister Holiday may not know where she’s headed, but you’ll follow her anywhere.”

“What do you get when you mix a poetic writer with the mystery genre? More metaphors than you can shake a stick at. Laugh out loud metaphors. Stunningly beautiful metaphors. All interlaced within an exciting mystery that is as different as it is classic in feel….The twisty plot, gorgeous language, and the renegade nun as a main character bring this novel into its own category…. Scorched Grace is a novel both exciting and profound. The crisp pacing keeps things moving briskly forward while the writing takes you deep. I can’t ask for more than that.”

“Colorful and surprising, Scorched Grace is one seriously heavenly mystery . . .With its scenes of austere convent life and gritty crime in a city lush with jasmine, Spanish moss, and strolling peacocks, this whodunit is a surprisingly fun and funny read.”

“The first novel by poet Douaihy, coeditor of Cambridge’s Elements in Crime Narratives series, features punk rocker–turned–music teacher Sister Holiday, the only chain-smoking, tattooed, queer nun of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood in New Orleans…The first book from suspense novelist Gillian Flynn’s imprint at Zando…has already been acquired for a prestige-television adaptation.”

“A noteworthy entry. The mystery-novel debut of Lebanese-American Margot Douaihy, Scorched Grace tells the story of Sister Holiday, a hard-boiled, much-tattooed nun with a troubled past who joins a convent in New Orleans…By focusing on family and secrets, Douaihy offers a new take on the figure of the hard-boiled detective.”

“The author’s writing style is dynamic, with a skilled approach to building each chapter…. Scorched Grace is, at times, irreverent and laugh-out-loud hilarious, but it delivers an interesting mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters.”