Installment immortality

In the latest installment of McGuire's InCryptid series, Mary Dunlavy, Price family babysitter and former crossroads ghost, has been reassembled by the anima mundi, the spirit of the world which has reappeared since the crossroads were destroyed. It and Mary need to come up with a new arrangement, lest she become a liability to the anima mundi. Mary's family is dealing with the fallout from several previous tales (most recently Aftermarket Afterlife, 2024), and she is willing to work for the anima mundi under one condition: that she is still able to function as a caretaker for the extended Price family. Fortunately, the anima mundi and the Prices want the same thing: get the Covenant out of North America. There are Covenant agents killing ghosts near Boston, and if they're not stopped, the consequences could be dire. Mary brings Elsie, still grieving, and Arthur, questioning his own personhood, along as backup. The stakes are high--not just for the family, but for every cryptid in North America. InCryptid continues to be a satisfying ride, with room for plenty of good times along with the danger; the risks keep climbing, but the payoff promises to be worth it.

Following on the heels of 2024's Aftermarket Afterlife, the deeply satisfying 14th installment of McGuire's InCryptid series finds ghostly babysitter Mary Dunlavey attempting to redefine her purpose, powers, and relationship to the family she's protected for so long. With the destruction of the mystical crossroads that both employed and controlled her, Mary is finally able to focus on her favorite job: watching over the Price-Healy family as they wage war against the monster-slaying Covenant of St. Georg. But now the anima mundi, the living spirit of the Earth itself, has an assignment for Mary: Covenant agents are capturing, torturing, and destroying ghosts, and Mary must stop them at all costs. She recruits Elsie and Arthur Harrington--extended members of the Price-Healy clan who are both grieving their mother's recent death and grappling with identity and family issues--to help. The trio head to Boston where the stakes ramp up as they try to protect the local ghosts before it's too late. Throughout, McGuire delves into themes of grief and trauma, both through her mortal protagonists and the assorted ghosts they encounter. This entry does an excellent job of further developing both Mary's story and the larger conflict between the Covenant and the Price-Healys. Series fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)