The Storyteller's Death

BuzzFeed's 20 Highly Anticipated Thrillers Of 2022

BookRiot's 15 Best New Mystery Books of 2022

From International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican teenager who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.

There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family's house when Isla was a child...

Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.

When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.

At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

"Ann Dávila Cardinal writes with the razored clarity of a surgeon, the spare and evocative beauty of a poet, and the immensely compelling passion of a natural born storyteller."

―Andre Dubus III, New York Times bestselling author of House of Sand and Fog

"A stunning, magic-infused tale of family ties and secrets....Cardinal'sstorytelling prowess shines in this beautifully imagined and multilayered story, as do her fully developed characters. Fans of sweeping family sagas will enjoy every page."

― Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"A combination of magical realism, terror, and mystery, all wrapped in a shroud of family secrets and dubious honor...Toni Morrison fans will particularly enjoy the otherworld-tinged drama."

― First Clue

"In Ann Dávila Cardinal's The Storyteller's Death, nothing can stop the cuentistas in the Sánchez family from telling their stories, not even death. I found myself captivated by the young Isla Sánchez and enthralled by the secrets of Isla's ancestors. Like the Sánchez family, Cardinal is a gifted cuentista and The Storyteller's Death is a welcome addition to Puerto Rican storytelling.""

― Marisel Vera, author of The Taste of Sugar

"Ann Dávila Cardinal is back to captivate us with The Storyteller's Death, a striking novel about secrets so restless they're dangerous. Isla, the book's spirited protagonist, will endear herself to all of those who have stumbled upon those terrible truths that make our beloved families that much more complicated, flawed, and human."

― Rigoberto González, author and literary critic