About the Author

Melissa Marr was voted in high school the ‘most likely to end up in jail’. Instead, she went to graduate school, worked in a bar, became a teacher and did a lot of writing. She is the author of the Wicked Lovely series.

Reviews

‘No one builds worlds like Melissa Marr’
Charlaine Harris ‘A deliciously creepy tale that is as skilfully wrought as it is spellbindingly imagined’
Kelley Armstrong, NYT bestselling author of the Women of the Otherworld series Praise for Melissa Marr: ‘Marr offers readers a fully imagined faery world that runs alongside an everyday world, which even non-fantasy (or faerie) lovers will want to delve into’ Publisher’s Weekly, starred review ‘This is a magical novel… the first book in a trilogy that will guarantee to have you itching for the next instalment.’ Bliss

Wow, a Marr book without a single fey! The best-selling author of the young adult "Wicked Lovely" series brings something entirely different to the table in her adult fiction debut. Residents of Claysville stay in Claysville-not because they don't want to leave, but because they can't. The small town is immediately familiar but leaves an eerie, prickly feeling at the back of your neck. The Town Council knows things the other residents can't imagine. Claysville is safe enough, as long as the dead stay dead. The Undertaker and his Graveminder uphold the centuries-old contract between this world and the next, but the town's Graveminder has been murdered. New Undertaker Byron loves Rebekkah-he always has-but now he has to convince her that she belongs to him and the dead. In the town of Claysville, there are the living, the dead, and those who exist between. VERDICT You need to plan ahead to read this one, because you won't be able to put it down! Haunting, captivating, brilliant!--Jennifer Anderson, Texas A&M Univ., Corpus Christi (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Rebekkah Barrow returns to the town of Claysville following the brutal murder of her grandmother, Maylene. There she and old flame Byron Montgomery discover that the town's founders made a deal with a mysterious Mr. D. In exchange for the health and welfare of its residents, the town must provide a Graveminder to ensure the dead easy passage into the next world. As it turns out, Maylene was the Graveminder for decades and now Rebekkah has inherited the job. But in Maylene's absence the dead have started to rise. Now Rebekkah and Byron must work to get things back to normal before the dead outnumber the living. Emma Galvin's narration is solid and appropriate, and the slightly Southern twang she delivers perfectly captures the gothic atmosphere of this haunting novel. Her characterizations are simple but distinct, and her interpretation of the creepy Mr. D. is particularly captivating. A William Morrow hardcover. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.