In the frost-locked city of Orsym, survival is a matter of taste-and the ingredients are unspeakable.

Dominic Silva is the celebrated ecclesiastical chef of a starving aristocracy. In a gothic metropolis carved from the calcified bones of elder beasts, the elite are sustained by a single, horrific resource: leviathan nectar, siphoned from a gargantuan, suffering monster imprisoned beneath the ice. Dominic's job is simple but essential. He must use his unparalleled culinary genius to transform this dark, rotting harvest into a masterpiece of glamorous illusions, shielding the nobility from the grotesque reality of their own cannibalistic survival.

As the centennial Feast of Hollow Saints approaches, Dominic's carefully constructed world of spun sugar and vanity begins to fracture. A centuries-old recipe manuscript awakens with a bloody, aggressive sentience, psychically demanding that he serve the agonizing truth of the beast's suffering. Meanwhile, the ruthless Inspector Nestor Norcross circles like a starved wolf, threatening to strip Dominic of his beloved power.

To survive the deadly politics of the court and protect the brilliant, desperate Marchioness Marguerite Moreau, Dominic must weaponize his art like never before. But how long can a master illusionist mask the taste of an empire's sins?

Immerse yourself in Book 2 of The Cathedral Bestiary, a lush, terrifying journey into a world of decadent dark fantasy, gothic romance, and bone-chilling culinary horror.