This is a very sapphic queer 1940's noir detective novella set in Chicago; it follows Helen Brandt who is sucked into one last case with a payment she can't resist. I love all of the era-appropriate diction and dialogue; the whole story felt like the gritty internal monologue of a detective radio play. I just enjoyed this all quite a bit: the characters, the writing, the tone, the backstory and worldbuilding reveals, and the final action (even though I knew the end).

This story also gave me a lot of similar vibes to The Chosen and the Beautiful. Even though they're both from different eras, they're both stories in specific American time periods with magic and soul selling.