When an arsonist on the loose in New Orleans decides to set fire to Saint Sebastian School, resulting in a fatal attack, everything changes for the community that runs it, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood. Especially for the outspoken Sister Holiday, a smoking, head-to-toe tattooed nun whose virtues don't include patience. Tired of waiting for the police investigation to move forward and being repeatedly doubted, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

Her mission will lead her down a winding path filled with suspicions under the stifling New Orleans heat. She will persistently interrogate fellow teachers, students, and even some of her sisters. Sister Holiday undoubtedly has more faith than many (and many others), but she is no saint either: if she wants to discover what happened, she will also have to confront some of the sins of her own secret past. What she doesn't know is which of the two tasks will be easier.

In this original mystery novel, we meet Sister Holiday, a lesbian, tattooed, ex-punk nun who has left her former life behind to join the convent. With her sharp mind and rebellious nature, she becomes an improvised detective who must uncover the truth while dealing with her inner contradictions. Between the smoke of the fire and the smoke of her own thoughts, she will discover that the truth can be as dangerous as it is liberating.

About Margot Douaihy

Margot Douaihy She is an American author of Lebanese origin, currently based in Massachusetts. With a PhD in creative writing from Lancaster University (UK), she has published several volumes of poetry and is the founder of the Creative Writing Studies Organization, as well as an active member of Sisters in Crime and Radius of Arab American Writers. She has received the Mass Cultural Council's Artist Fellowship and has been a finalist for awards such as the Lambda Literary Award, Aesthetica Magazine's Creative Writing Award, and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation's Hemingway Shorts. Her stories and pieces have appeared in publications such as Queer Life Queer Love, Colorado Review, Diode Editions, The Florida Review, North American Review, PBS NewsHour, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Portland Review and Wisconsin ReviewShe is currently an associate professor at Emerson College, Boston, and co-editor of the collection Elements in Crime from Cambridge University Press.