Graveminder

August 29, 2011
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.

April 4, 2011
YA bestseller Marr (Wicked Lovely), in her first novel for adult readers, serves up a quirky dark fantasy fashioned around the themes of fate, free willâand zombies. When Rebekkah Barrow is summoned home to Claysville for the funeral of her beloved grandmother, Maylene, Rebekkah doesn't know that she's been designated Maylene's successor as the town Graveminder, whose job it is to give the recently deceased food to keep them in the Land of the Dead. Not coincidentally, her sometimes lover, Byron Montgomery, has just succeeded his dad as the Undertaker, who works intimately with the Graveminder. Even as the pair ponder the grave responsibilities that their weird destinies have thrust upon them, they doggedly pursue Daisha, an adolescent who died under suspicious circumstances and who, unburied and untended, is wreaking havoc around town as a rampaging member of the Hungry Dead. Not everything adds up in Marr's story, but the well-drawn characters and their dramatic interactions keep the tale loose and lively. 6-city author tour.