Ocean State Libraries

"Archie Mint has a secret. He's led a charmed life. He's got a beautiful wife, two impressive kids, and a successful military career. But when he's killed while trying to stop a robbery in his own home, his family is shattered and then shocked when the other shoe drops. Mint's been hiding criminal secrets none of them could have imagined. While working on Mint{u2019}s body before his funeral, mortician Zig Zigarowski discovers something he was never...

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...

"Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Here to Eternity is an immersive global journey that introduces compelling, powerful rituals almost entirely unknown in America. In rural Indonesia, she watches a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body, which has resided in the family home for two years. In La Paz, she meets Bolivian natitas (cigarette-smoking,...

"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....

After a terrible car accident, Anna wakes to find the funeral director is preparing her body for her own funeral. Convincing her that she is in transition to the afterlife, the funeral director is leading Anna to accept her own death. But Paul, Anna's grief-stricken boyfriend, can't shake the nagging suspicion that the funeral director is not what he appears to be. As Paul gets close to unlocking the truth, it may be too late as Anna may have already...

On the gritty streets of L.A., the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption are about to collide. An erotic dancer, a grieving husband, a terminally ill ex-con, and a mortician all desperate for redemption collide on Christmas Eve.

Abby Knight discovers that sometimes death can be a little fun in the sixth Flower Shop Mystery...
Abby is amused by the black humor of the usually somber “death professionals” who are attending the Midwestern Funeral Directors Association’s regional convention. Even organizer Sybil Blount—known for her cutthroat business practices and the signature rose she wears in her wig—comes as a surprise…especially...

A precocious 11-year-old tomboy obsessed with death shares a poignant summer with her widowed father, the sexy and kind cosmetician he hires, and most importantly with the boy-next-door who idolizes her.

After watching their best friend get murdered, a group of teens struggle to expose a local hero as the vicious killer and keep from becoming his next victims.