Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life's work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age...

In 1861 London, Violet Morgan is struggling to establish a good reputation for the undertaking business that her husband has largely abandoned. She provides comfort for the grieving, advises them on funeral fashion and etiquette, and arranges funerals. Unbeknownst to his wife, Graham, who has nursed a hatred of America since his grandfather soldiered for Great Britain in the War of 1812, becomes involved in a scheme to sell arms to the South. Meanwhile,...

Mortician "Zig" Zigarowski, while working on the body of a successful military man, discovers something he was never meant to see, and, to get the answers he needs, sets out to find military artist Nola Brown--a search that reveals one of the U.S. government's most intensely guarded secrets.

When Kenneth and Corrie Tyler become suspicious of the town undertaker, they attempt to discover the truth. But what they find is far worse than they had feared.

Asked to undertake the funeral of a favored viscount, Violet runs into trouble when the body disappears and she is forced to investigate the theft and avoid being a victim herself.

"Hart Ralston is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the wasteland of Tanria, hunting for drudges. It's an unforgiving job, and Hart's got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness. Mercy Birdsall never has a moment to herself. She's been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat - despite definitely not being a son - in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart Ralston, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest....

In Carthage, TX, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede is one of the town's most beloved residents. He sings in the church choir and is always willing to lend a helping hand. He befriends an affluent widow, and she soon becomes dependent on Bernie. Later it is reported that Marjorie Nugent has been dead for some time, and Bernie Tiede is charged with the murder.

"When an unnatural cause of death finds one of her clients, Desiree must get to the bottom of the murder before she's fitted for a coffin herself." from dust jacket.

One of Victorian London's most respected undertakers, Violet Harper has the new duty of accompanying coffins from various undertakers on the London Necropolis Railway for respectful funerals and burials in Surrey. But on her fateful first trip, the mournful silence of the train is shattered by the shrill ringing of a coffin bell--a device that prevents a person from being buried alive.Inside the noisome coffin Violet finds a man wide-eyed with fear,...

"All the Ways Our Dead Still Speak takes readers on a lyrical and tender quest to encounter the hereafter. As Wilde picks up bodies, organizes funerals, and meets with grieving families in a small town in Pennsylvania, those who remain share with him--and us--what they experience in the thin places between life and death."--