What is the best T. Kingfisher book?

From cozy folklore-tinged romances to genuinely unsettling horror, this catalog swings between whimsical sourdough magic and things that should not be in the walls. Recent gothic reads sit alongside beloved fairy-tale retellings — cast your vote!

1

Nettle & Bone

Hugo Award-winning dark fairy tale about a princess who assembles unlikely allies and forbidden magic to kill a prince.

1000pts

2

What Moves the Dead

Gothic horror retelling of Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' narrated by a visiting soldier.

689pts

3

The Hollow Places

Horror novel in which a woman discovers a hole in her uncle's museum wall leading to a disturbing alternate world.

597pts

4

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

Hugo and Mythopoeic Award-winning YA fantasy about a young baker whose magic lets her fight with sourdough and pastry.

597pts

5

Bryony and Roses

Beauty and the Beast retelling about a gardener who trades her freedom to a cursed, monstrous host for stealing a rose.

596pts

6

A House with Good Bones

Horror novel about a woman who returns to her mother's house and finds it haunted by unsettling changes.

517pts

7

Illuminations

Middle-grade fantasy adventure about a girl who accidentally frees a mischievous ink-born creature from an old spellbook.

517pts

8

Clockwork Boys

Fantasy adventure sending a forger, an assassin, a scholar, and a soldier on a desperate mission to stop a war.

423pts

9

The Seventh Bride

Dark fairy tale following a miller's daughter forced into marriage with a sinister sorcerer with several previous wives.

310pts

10

Paladin's Grace

Romantic fantasy opening the Saint of Steel series, pairing a disgraced paladin with a perfumer entangled in murder.

310pts

11

The Twisted Ones

Folk horror novel in which a woman clearing her grandmother's house uncovers a nightmarish presence in the woods.

310pts

12

Thornhedge

Hugo Award-winning novella reimagining Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the guardian meant to keep the princess asleep.

310pts

13

Swordheart

Fantasy romance about a woman who inherits a magic sword containing an ancient, honor-bound swordsman.

172pts