Lady of Ashes

Violet Morgan runs Morgan Undertaking in Victorian England, a trade that rarely admits women. She takes pride in the work. She is sympathetic with the bereaved, knows the fashions of funerals, and has long been at ease with the part death plays in life.

Her husband, Graham, cares more about raising the family's standing in society. As Violet builds a fine name for the firm, he becomes consumed by private demons and plans a scheme of revenge, leaving her more and more on her own. Death then reaches her own household, and her settled, slightly odd life begins to come apart.

The work that once comforted her stops doing so when she comes to suspect that some of the dead she has dressed for burial were murdered. Then Graham disappears. Violet takes complete charge of the business and wins a commission for a funeral of royal scale.

This is historical fiction with a mystery at its center, set in London and moving through its fog and its mourning rituals. Violet is convinced a killer is at large in the city, and the tone darkens as she realizes the next funeral she arranges could be her own.