Graveminder

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene’s death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk. . . .

USA Today

“Dark and dreamy . . . Rod Serling would have loved GRAVEMINDER . . . Marr is not tapping into the latest horde of zombie novels, she’s created a new kind of undead creature . . . A creatively creepy gothic tale for grown-ups.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Melissa Marr has created a fabulous, richly-imagined world in Claysville and its attendant piece of the Underworld.”

Jeaniene Frost, New York Times bestselling author of the Night Huntress series

“Compelling, sexy, and riveting, you will not want to miss Graveminder!”

Library Journal (starred review)

“Plan ahead to read this one, because you won’t be able to put it down! Haunting, captivating, brilliant! ”

Publishers Weekly

“Marr serves up a quirky dark fantasy fashioned around themes of fate, free will-and zombies…well-drawn characters and their dramatic interactions keep the tale loose and lively.”

RT Book Reviews (top pick)

“The über-talented Marr takes her mesmerizing storytelling talents into the adult arena. In her atmospheric and eerie tale, readers and protagonists jointly discover the secrets literally buried in this small town as Marr weaves a richly gothic tale filled with curses, responsibility and death. Outstanding!”

Kelley Armstrong

“A deliciously creepy tale that is as skillfully wrought as it is spellbindingly imagined.”

Charlaine Harris

“No one builds worlds like Melissa Marr.”

Kirkus Reviews

“The emotional dance between Rebekkah and Byron will captivate female readers [and] fantasy-horror fans will demand more.”

NPR

“If anyone can put the goth in Southern Gothic, it’s Melissa Marr...Marr [is] careful to ensure that the book’s wider themes ... matter to us as much as the multiple cases of heebie-jeebies she doles out.”

Washington Post

“Marr creates sympathetic characters, she takes readers to places both sinister and delightful, and there’s a satisfying end to a wonderfully awful villain...Fans will be looking for a sequel to this cozy horror story as soon as they read the last page.”

From the Back Cover

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene’s death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk. . . .

About the Author

Melissa Marr writes fiction for adults, teens, and children. Her books have been translated into twenty-eight languages and been bestsellers in the US (NY Times, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal) as well as overseas. Wicked Lovely, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller and evolved into an internationally bestselling multibook series. Over the last two decades, she's also published middle grade (The Hidden Knife), adult fiction (Graveminder), picture books (Bunny Roo, I Love You), and comics (The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley). If she's not writing, you can probably find her in a kayak or on a trail with her wife.

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