This paranormal romance is the first installment in Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. Readers are introduced to the Shadowhunters via Clary Fray--a teenage girl who witnesses a supernatural murder.

Suddenly able to see demons and the Shadowhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizarre world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

In her first meeting with the Shadowhunters, a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons, Clary must come to terms with her recently revealed gift of the Sight while dealing with her brother's near-death encounter with a demon and the sudden disappearance of her mother.

In her first meeting with the Shadowhunters, a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons, Clary must come to terms with her recently revealed gift of the Sight while dealing with her brother's near-death encounter with a demon and the sudden disappearance of her mother.