COMING FEBRUARY 11 2025
Who destroyed Professor Wolf’s prize-winning tomatoes? What’s behind the mysterious goings-on at Killington Manor? And why does life sometimes feel like we’re stuck in a mystery, with few clues and no solutions? In her first collection of short stories, Sara Gran explores what detective stories mean and why we need them. If you love mysteries, and wonder why, this book is for you. Featuring both new characters and characters from the beloved Claire DeWitt series.
E-book 979-8-9906955-1-1
Paperback 979-8-9906955-0-4
info@dreamland-books.com
publicity: kathy@kathydaneman.com
“Full of wisdom and life and perfect sentences that make other writers tear their hair out in jealousy.” -- Ed Brubaker, Eisner-winning author of Criminal
"By turns profound, amusing, and just plain fun." -- Sara Paretsky, author of Indemnity Only
"Irresistible...the perfect introduction to one of my favorite writers." --Ed Park, Pulitzer-nominated author of Same Bed, Different Dreams
"Packed with clever twists and wry humor...big on smarts, suspense and style." --Alison Gaylin, Edgar--winning author of We Are Watching
“A darkly glittering cabinet of delights and curiosities by a master of the craft.” —John Wray, author of Gone to the Wolves
"Only Gran can take us this deep with this much pleasure in the reading." --Conner Habib, author of Hawk Mountain
"Gran perfectly captures the eccentric world of antiquarian bookselling while portraying a profound and magical reckoning with loss and the possibility of going on. She has outdone herself. "
— Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review
"While Lily's hunt propels the story forward, it is Gran's frequently exquisite prose that demands investment from its audience."
— Bookpage, Starred Review
"Extravagant, sexy and compelling. I f****** loved it."
— Lauren Beukes
"Sara Gran's THE BOOK OF THE MOST PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE is a mix of book buying mystery, erotica, and a pinch of Clive Barkerian obsessive existential horror, but it's all Gran. And it's all brilliant."
— Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World
"There's two types of magic at play, here. There's what these characters are trying to do, mixing books and sex and spells, and then there's the magic Sara Gran is doing to us, as we compulsively read this literary thriller. And there's a third magic we only wish we could do: pay in blood to go back, read this book again for the first time."
— Stephen Graham Jones
The highly anticipated new thriller from internationally renowned author Sara Gran, author of Come Closer and the Claire DeWitt series.
A mysterious book that promises unlimited power and unrivaled sexual pleasure. A down-on-her-luck book dealer hoping for the sale of a lifetime. And a twist so shocking, no one will come out unscathed.
After a tragedy too painful to bear, former novelist Lily Albrecht has resigned herself to a dull, sexless life as a rare book dealer. Until she gets a lead on a book that just might turn everything around. The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a 17th century manual on sex magic, rumored to be the most powerful occult book ever written—if it really exists at all. And some of the wealthiest people in the world are willing to pay Lily a fortune to find it—if she can. Her search for the book takes her from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris, searching the dark corners of power where the world’s wealthiest people use black magic to fulfill their desires. Will Lily fulfill her own desires, and join them? Or will she lose it all searching for a ghost? The Book of the Most Precious Substance is an addictive erotic thriller about the lengths we’ll go to get what we need—and what we want.
February 8, 2022
Trade paperback 978-0-578-94709-9
Ebook 978-0-578-95779-1