

I'd found her key and opened it that awful day to look for her wedding dress, having the crazy idea she should be buried in it. The attic had been kept locked until the day after my grandmother died.

For this book, I had the excellent advice of Ellen Dugan, writer, mother, and witch. Kelner and Dana Cameron, who help me focus on the important aspects of the work at hand Victoria Koski, who tries to keep the huge world of Sookie in order and my agent, Joshua Bilmes, and my editor, Ginjer Buchanan, who work so hard to keep my professional train on the tracks. Let me thank my assistant and best friend, Paula Woldan, first and foremost, for allowing me the peace of mind to work without worry my friends and readers Toni L. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am afraid I'll skip someone this time around, because I am fortunate enough to have a lot of great help as I work on these books. There was so much to admire about my mother. She was my biggest fan and my most faithful reader. To have an urban fantasy novel dedicated to her.

I have to dedicate this book to the memory of my mother.
