Chapters 1-5 Summary

Anita Blake is a vampire slayer and raises the dead. Dating the second in line for the position of leader of the local pack of werewolves has complicated her life more than she would have thought, and the master of the city, Jean-Claude is still trying to win her heart. Anita might be tempted, but the fact that he is dead keeps her away. Anita meets with her last client of the night before a date with Richard, her boyfriend who also happens to be a werewolf. George Smitz is looking for his wife Peggy, who has been missing for two days. Smitz is unwilling to go to the police because his wife is a lycanthrope, and she might lose her job if her disease was discovered. Anita can not help Smitz but connects him with Veronica Sims, her best friend...