I have been avoiding the non-Kushiel Careys, and by your description, that sounds like a good thing!

I am waiting for Mercy in paperback - I am too poor to buy hardcovers. I am glad to see, by the first chapter of it, that Imriel has to work to get his one-true-love. And yes, of course she had to die so he could be happy. Carey would not write her hero into so untenable a situation for the entire series. It must be nice to have an author.