Dead Ends

Some feelings can't be buried.

In the city of Candlewick, everything has rules, including magic. Gone is the Spire of Khal-Drol and in its place is a coffee shop. Magic has been leashed, along with those who practice it. Margaret Locke was once amongst them, but now, she has a more important, if less glamorous, role to play. Margaret is a corpse compliance officer, ensuring that those who employ the undead treat their workers fairly and returning restless spirits to the Beyond. She works long nights and comes home smelling like ectoplasm, but at least she lives alone.

But love can find anyone at anytime, even in a dark alley at midnight. When Margaret meets Theo, he makes a strong first impression: for one thing, he's dead.

Theo has only been dead for ninety minutes, which means his soul is still hanging around. Law forbids Margaret's department from performing resurrections, so Theo must return to the grave. Except he is the first amongst dozens of undead who've been freed from their graves and turned loose upon the city. Theo can't remember who he is or what happened to him. Finding the answers could lead Margaret to the culprit of the mass raising and save the city. To do so, she'll need help, even if it's from a charming, young wizard with projectile dysfunction.

The dead threaten to outnumber the living, which is really screwing up the census. Margaret has been given three days to solve a murder, catch a necromancer, and get the dead back in their graves. Oh, and to not fall in love. Just another day on the job.