Jim McCann’s soap opera murder mystery set primarily in a young woman’s mind was missing one key ingredient, and clearly that ingredient was hoodie-wearing werewolves expertly drawn by Rodin Esquejo. Oh, thank goodness, they’ve remedied that oversight in this expertly crafted fourth issue of Mind the Gap. This book is a high drama mystery where nothing is as it seems, and every character you meet has hidden agendas and ulterior motives. At the center of all of this is Elle, who’s recently been murdered and is searching through her fragmented memories in the “Garden,” a mysterious world that balances between life and death, while her body lies lifeless in a coma.

While she tries to put together the memory of her previous life and solve the mystery of her own murder, her friends and family cope with their loss and try to figure out who would want an innocent girl like Elle dead. The shifting between Elle’s dreamworld and the real world allows McCann and Esquejo to play around with reality, combining Elle’s jumbled memory with nightmarish elements of fairy tales and the fragments she remembers about her murder. Esquejo’s art is especially impressive when he adds unreal elements to his highly expressive, realistic style.

Mind the Gap is a book that’s really great if you can read it from the beginning, but McCann and crew do a great job recapping the story and reminding readers of all of the important players, so that you can pick it up with just this issue and you won’t be lost. If you’re ready to be sucked into the best mystery you’ll read this year, then make sure you pick up Mind the Gap #4!