Alex Craft is a grave witch. She has the special ability to summon shades -- not ghosts, but lingering memories still present in dead bodies. Oh, and she can see and talk to Death, who just happens to be a jeans-wearing, dark-haired hottie. Alex's gifts help her make a decent living as a PI and an occasional police consultant. But when she uses her grave-sight on Theodore Coleman, the state's recently assassinated governor, she doesn't get the feelings that are so familiar in her work, and she can see no decay in the two-week-old corpse; what she can see is more disturbing: tattoo-like patterns, or glyphs, all over the body that hint at dark magic, a power far beyond her own. Alex is interrupted before she can finish her work, but she now suspects that "Coleman" was something other than human, and this thing has possibly taken over another body. She decides she must be onto something when someone tries to kill her as she leaves the building, and, ironically, Death saves her life.

To make matters worse, a deadly virus is spreading through the magical community, attacking body and soul. Could there be some connection here? Alex needs to find out fast -- because she's been infected.

Just when I thought there was nowhere new for urban fantasy to take me, this book came along. I was intrigued by Alex's process, which is described in fascinating detail, and Nekros City is a convincing portrait of magical and mundane living side-by-side. With characters including Roy, a helpful ghost; PC, Alex's Chinese crested (non-magical) dog; a fae landlord; a gargoyle named Fred; and Falin Andrews, a tough and sexy police detective who may have his own dark secrets, the story never slows down. Thrills, chills, some snarky humor, and a little romance cast a spell that will keep readers entertained from beginning to end.

Book Summary

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around . . .

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life . . . and her soul.

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