Brick Dust and Bones

Fournet, M. R. Brick Dust and Bones
July 18, 2023 by Feiwel Friends

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Marius lives near New Orleans, in a family mausoleum, since his family has dealt with ghosts in the cemetary for generations. His mother has passed away, although her ghost is still around to give him advice. He gets human money for being the caretaker, but he is interested in earning Mystical credit in order to bring his mother back from the dead. In order to do this, he traps more dangerous spirits in his book, and sells them to Papa Harold at the Habada-Cherie. There is a scale that extracts the spirit from the book and tells how much should be paid. Boogeymen aren't too bad to capture, although Marius occasionally has to hide in a child's bedroom to do this. When he is not earning enough, he agrees to take on more serious monsters, although not everyone thinks that this is something children should be doing. Marius also has a secret; his best friend is a mermaid. Not the sparkling, happy, Disney type mermaid, but a creepy Southern one with a frightening maw and endless appetite for flesh. We don't quite know why their bond is so deep, but Rhiannon has never hurt Marius, and helps him in his monster hunting frequently. In between going to school at Madame Millett's small academy (and having to deal with her daughter, who taunts him and calls him Mary) and taking care of the ghosts at the cemetary, Marius takes on increasingly difficult monsters. Papa Harold sends him after a candy lady who ends up being a much more dangerous boo hag in disguise, and he earns a lot of Mystical credit, but he uses it it to save the soul of one of his teachers, who has sold her soul to a demon in exchange for the health of her children. To earn more, Marius eventually agrees to capture a terrifying rougarou. This isn't easy, and it takes all of his skill as well as help from Rhiannon to subdue it. Will this be enough to bring back his mother? 
Strengths: This was a different type of magical horror book that I think my students will like. It combines the horror level of K.R. Alexander with the folklore of Tracey Baptiste or Ronald L. Smith, and even adds a pretty good level of monster related gore. Marius is a very sympathetic character who tries his hardest to get by on his own, with very limited resources. At one point, he steals supplies from Madame Millett, and her daugher gives him a hard time, but in the end, Madame Millett helps save the day. Lots of interesting lore to delve in to. Fans of Delaney's The Last Apprentice will enjoy this more modern tale of monster hunting. 
Weaknesses: Since I am not familiar with the magic native to the New Orleans area, I could have used some more explanations. Why can brick dust take out monsters? I get the silver, but the brick dust was new. There were times when I felt like I was missing a first book, especially when it came to Madame Millett's school, Rhiannon, and Marius' own mother's death, but this seems to be a debut novel.
What I really think: It's a bad idea to bring people back to life; won't go into the details, but I can't imagine this would end well. A sequel is hinted at, and I would be interested to see what Marius has to deal with in another book. Definitely purchasing.