Characters
Charlie Asher: The protagonist of the story, Charlie Asher is the owner of Asher's Secondhand, the thrift shop inherited from his father, where much of the story takes place. Charlie became a death merchant upon witnessing Minty Fresh take his wife's soul object as she died. Over the course of the story, Charlie raises his daughter Sophie while dealing with the ramifications of his soul collecting job.
Minty Fresh: Minty is a nearly seven foot tall African American with a penchant for wearing mint green suits. He is, like Charlie, a death merchant. He runs a second-hand record store in the Castro district of San Francisco.
Jane Asher: Charlie's sister. She helps Charlie raise Sophie when she's around, and she has a bad habit of 'borrowing' Charlie's suits.
Audrey: Tibetan monk with power over the movement of souls and creator of animal chimeras that mysteriously appear.
Detective Alphonse Rivera: A detective with the SFPD, Rivera suspects Charlie of involvement in a number of suspicious deaths.
Ray Macy: One of Charlie's two employees, Ray is a middle-aged retired cop who spends time online connecting with 'desperate Filipinas.'
Lily Severo: Charlie's other employee, Lily is a goth teenager and later a goth chef. She is the only person besides Minty Fresh and Sophie who knows that Charlie is a death merchant.
Mrs. Vladlena Korjev and Mrs. Ling: Middle-aged women who live in Charlie's building and frequently care for Sophie while providing comic relief.
The Morrigan: Babd, Macha, and Nemain, Celtic war deities and denizens of the underworld. Along with Orcus, they are the villains of the novel.
Orcus: Husband of the Morrigan, and powerful force of darkness.
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The murder of Sophie Lancaster occurred in England in August 2007. The victim and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were attacked by a group of teenage boys while walking through Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale, Lancashire, on 11 August 2007. As a result of the severe head injuries Lancaster sustained in the attack, she went into a coma from which she never regained consciousness, and died of her injuries thirteen days later. The police said the attack may have been linked to the couple wearing gothic fashion and being members of the goth subculture.
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