Konstantin "Kostya" Duhovny channels his ability to discern favorite foods of the deceased into a mission to comfort those left behind, including himself, in Aftertaste, the debut novel by Daria Lavelle that blends love, loss, and culinary delights. Aftertaste is flavored with more than a dash of the fantastical as Kostya's story moves between the fast-paced Manhattan restaurant scene and the afterlife. Kostya's "clairgustance" (his ability to "taste from the other side") inspires him to open a restaurant where the house special is a dish individually created to entice a customer's loved one back for a last shared meal.
"Aftertastes appeared in Konstantin's mouth like messages." Mourning his father's sudden death and isolated from peers as a Ukrainian immigrant, lonely young Kostya doesn't speak of "the flavors uninvited, haunting the back of his throat." Drawn to the world of food, Kostya starts working in a bar where he gets an "aftertaste" of obscure ingredients and mixes a cocktail for a heartbroken young man--whose wife's phosphorescent ghost materializes. Kostya is now confident he can bring closure to the grieving.
Kostya is supported by characters as likable and fully realized as he is. Frankie is a loyal, affable "culinary juggernaut" who believes in Kostya's tasting and cooking skills. He narrates interstitial chapters as if he's an advertising director for his friend's efforts, seasoning the novel with humor. A romance with Maura, a feisty psychic, simmers despite her warnings not to awaken ghosts. Increasingly complex recipes and reunions climax in consequences even skeptical readers will find hopefully haunting. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.