Life is going surprisingly well for Chess Putnam. Her bank balance is healthy, she's pretty sure Terrible is officially her boyfriend, and the last few months have been devoid of anyone really trying to kill her. So when Chess is ordered by an infamous crime boss She - who also happens to be her drug dealer - to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she is unsurprised; she knew the recent relative calm wouldn't last. If that wasn't bad enough, Chess's ex-lover Lax, son of the rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between them.
Plus there?s the little matter of Chess's real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead - and if Chess doesn't watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.
As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she?s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.