Aftertaste

'Deliciously evocative, bitingly inventive, written with humour and heart' Elizabeth Day Kostya is working as a dishwasher when he discovers something extraordinary. The strange tastes that have flooded his mouth without warning since his father's death - aftertastes - are being sent by spirits seeking closure and, through his cooking, Kostya can help them find it. Maura is a psychic with ghosts of her own. When Kostya enters her booth she immediately understands what he is capable of, and the potential dangers. As Kostya and Maura fall deeply, deliciously in love, what Maura knows is increasingly at odds with what she feels. As Kostya prepares to open a New York City restaurant with a unique menu and unprecedented clientele, Maura senses a supernatural catastrophe looming that threatens everything.

Daria Lavelle writes fiction, most of which features at least one impossible thing. Her stories have appeared in Dark Matter, The Deadlands and Dread Machine, among others. She holds a BA from Princeton University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and enjoys opera, escape rooms, and checking restaurants off her bucket list. She was born in Kyiv before immigrating to the US as a child, and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, their hyperactive golden doodle, and their three magical children. Aftertaste is her first novel.