The Sins on Their Bones

Dimitri Alexeyev used to be the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo. He now lives in exile, broken, after losing a civil war that his estranged husband, Alexey Balakin, began. The country is a reimagining of nineteenth-century Eastern Europe, built from Jewish folklore and Slavic culture.

Alexey has since died and come back in an immortal, indestructible body, the result of a twisted religious practice called the Holy Science. He can summon creatures from the realm of demons. His plan is to raise an army and turn Novo-Svitsevo into the greatest empire in history.

Dimitri hides with what is left of his court. Alongside his spymaster, Vasily Sokolov, he plots a dangerous ruse to stop Alexey from corrupting the land he once ruled.

The cost may be personal. Winning could take the soul of the husband Dimitri still refuses to let go, or of Vasily, the spymaster who has become his lover in all but name. This is the first book of The Cursed Crown duology, a dark fantasy romance with a tormented tone, where politics and the supernatural bear on love, possession and control.