For the past year, Joanne Walker has spent her time adjusting. She has switched careers, from working under the hood of police cars to becoming a new detective on the police force, died and come back to life with Shamanistic powers, as well as gained and lost a talking coyote that was her only source of knowledge on how to use these powers. She has finally come to accept her new roles, and work at them, as well as having developed a romantic relationship with the mechanic who took her place in the garage, whom she aptly nicknamed Thor.

So with life riding smoothly, helping a friend throw a Halloween party seems like a great idea, until some ghosts try to possess the entertainment. Add to it a murder and theft of an ancient cauldron at the museum and Joanne is off to solve the mystery and save the world, before the dead walk earth for good.

WALKING DEAD is the fourth book in C.E. Murphy's Walker Papers series. Readers have waited two years since the last book, and Ms. Murphy didn't disappoint her fans. Joanne is a strong if not still somewhat reluctant hero, with more interest in working on her car Petite than doing her nails. She is yet awkward using her shamanic powers, but relies more on herself in this book than she has in the past, which shows growth. The mix of Celtic and Native American mythos may confuse some at first, but once you get to know the story, you find that increases the charm of it.

Book Summary

Seattle’s a great place to live…if it weren’t for the undead.

For once, Joanne Walker’s not out to save the world. She’s come to terms with the host of shamanic powers she’s been given, her job as a police detective has been relatively calm, and she’s got a love life for the first time in memory. Not bad for a woman who started out the year mostly dead.

But it’s Halloween, and the undead have just crashed Joanne’s party. Now she has to figure out how to break the spell that lets ghosts, zombies and even the Wild Hunt come back. Unfortunately, there’s no shamanic handbook explaining how to deal with the walking dead.

And if they have anything to say about it–which they do–

No one’s getting out of there alive.