Too often people mistake monsters for gods.

When a ravaged corpse is discovered in Pretoria, South Africa, Esmé Snyder—an occult-crime expert—is called in to investigate. But she doesn’t know the scope of what she’s up against. Esmé is the target of a cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer who uses the paranormal to do his bidding, with the intent of becoming a god on Earth.

With assistance from her team—a brusque detective, eccentric millionaire, stoic priest, hawkeyed secretary, and handsome British forensic criminologist—Esmé hopes to find the killer before he strikes again.

But the clock isn’t all that’s working against them. The media catches wind of the threat against the citizens of Pretoria, and their reported speculations promise a post-Apartheid Satanic Panic.

As the body count grows, Esmé must figure out who is behind the heinous crimes before she ends up the final sacrifice.

Dark Country highlights the multicultural mythologies, magic, histories, beauty, and horror of living in pseudo-modern South Africa.