The Mystery of Grace by Charles De Lint

About the book: Three years after his last major adult novel, Charles de Lint returns with a new tale of magic, loss, and redemption, his first book set in the Southwest. Centered on a remarkable female protagonist and entirely self-contained, this is a modern contemporary fantasy as invented band pioneered by de Lint himself. Altagracia—her friends call her Grace—has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder; she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg; and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that'll never wash out.
Grace works at Sanchez Motor Works, customizing hot rods. A few blocks around her small apartment building is all her world—from the grocery store where she buys beans, tamales and cigarettes to the library, the little record shop, and the Solona Music Hall. Which is where she meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.
Grace and John fall for one another, and that would be wonderful, except that they're both haunted by unfinished business. Before their relationship can be resolved, they're both going to have to learn things they don't know about the world of the living and the world beyond. About why it's necessary to let some things go.

My Thoughts: This is the first one of De Lint's books I've read and I liked it. I found the story and the characters intriguing. It was different from most of the UF that I read in that it wasn't a thriller at all. It was about the afterlife, a seemingly doomed love story, all revolving around the power of faith. There was just a touch of spice, nothing too hot, and had very little violence. The end of the story was a little too open ended for me, though. I like to know what happened. I will read more of De Lint's books

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urban fantasy, contempory fantasy, fantasy, ghosts, afterlife, witch, magic