I’ve recently been interested in sampling some of the better urban fantasy on the market. Patricia Briggs would certainly be one of the best places to start — she’s produced several #1 New York Times bestsellers featuring her shapeshifting heroine Mercy Thompson, and Locus magazine says “In the increasingly crowded field of kick-ass supernatural heroines, Mercy stands out as one of the best.” But frankly, I just don’t have time to read many more novels.

The new book Shifting Shadows may be just what I’ve been looking for. It’s a collection of short stories featuring Mercy, which originally appeared in anthologies like On the Prowl, Naked City, and Home Improvement: Undead Edition. It also includes four brand new standalone Mercy stories, which would serve as an ideal entry point for busy readers like me.

Shapeshifter Mercy Thompson has friends in high places — and in low, dark, scary ones. And in this must-have collection of stories, you’ll meet new faces and catch up with old acquaintances — in all their forms…

In a time of fresh starts, Mercy is asked to use an old talent — ghost hunting — in the all-new story “Hollow.” You’ll learn what happens when an ancient werewolf on his last legs befriends a vulnerable adolescent (“Roses in Winter”) and how Mercy’s friend Samuel Cornick became a werewolf (“Silver”). The werewolf Ben finds “Redemption,” and Moira, a blind witch, assists on a search in “Seeing Eye.”

From Butte, Montana, the copper-mining town that vampire Thomas Hao calls home (“Fairy Gifts”), to Chicago, where the vampire Elyna buys and renovates the apartment she lived in while human (“Gray”), you’ll travel the roads that originated with Mercy Thompson and the fertile imagination of Patricia Briggs. Roads that will lead you to places you’ve never been before…

Shifting Shadows was published by Ace Books on September 2. It is 450 pages, priced at $26.95 in hardcover and $10.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Daniel Dos Santos.