Vermilion

Elouise "Lou" Merriwether is a gunslinging, chain-smoking, Stetson-wearing Taoist psychopomp who keeps San Francisco safe from ghosts, shades, and geung si. When word comes that Chinese laborers have gone missing in the Colorado Rockies, Lou heads into the wilderness to find them, fearing her particular talents may be better suited to laying their spirits to rest than to bringing them home alive. The trail leads to a remote mountain sanatorium run by the mysterious Dr. Panacea, where a wary alliance with his aide Shai draws her into a plot involving an undead threat, desperate men, and dangers stranger still.