Phoebe Glassman is a sculptor who joined her husband, Logan McClary, in his mortuary business as a cosmetologist. As such, not only does she do hair and makeup for the deceased prior to viewings, in many cases she must restore parts of the person’s face that is missing because of disease, accidents or gunshots.

After her husband passed away three years ago, Phoebe stayed on and worked in the mortuary, even though a part of her would like to return to her true passion of sculpting. In order to satisfy that longing, she spends her days working on cadavers and occupies her free time in her home studio sculpting faces.

"A. J. Banner writes in her usual fast-paced style that will keep you turning pages and wanting more."

Right now she’s working on just one face --- that of her daughter, Ava, who also died in the car accident that claimed Logan’s life. Phoebe makes sculpture after sculpture that shows what she believes her daughter would look like now, which in some way helps to keep Ava alive.

Phoebe is so caught up in the past that she has trouble dealing with the future. She trudges through her days, trying to make peace with something that won’t let her go. But when Phoebe sees the body of a woman named Pauline Steele in the mortuary, her world is turned upside down.

The storyline deals with family secrets and cheating spouses, and includes many fascinating tidbits about the art of mortuary cosmetology.

Author A. J. Banner writes in her usual fast-paced style that will keep you turning pages and wanting more. She doles out vital information a little bit at a time, unfolding the plot in such a way as to make it nearly impossible to guess what will happen next. I’m betting the ending will surprise you and make you look at the entire story "in another light."