Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

The blurb:
Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene  bestowed on the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence.  There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual:  Three sips from a silver flask followed by the words, "Sleep well, and stay where I put you."

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place -- and the man -- she left a decade ago.  But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered -- and that there was good reason for her odd traditions.  It turns out that in placid Claysville the worlds of the living and the dead  are dangerously connected.  Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D--, a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded.  Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Bryon Montgomery, can set things right once the dead begin to walk.


Suddenly Rebekkah is struggling with more than just her grief--she's forced to deal with centuries-old bargain, dark secrets, a complicated romance that still haunts her, and a frightening new responsibility: to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong.


Review:
I very much enjoyed Graveminder.  There's a definite mystery behind Maylene's actions and her role as Graveminder. 

Maylene's murder at the start of the novel alerts us to the dangers and unusual culture at Claysville as well as to Byron Montgomery.  Byron has recently returned to Claysville after a successful career in law enforcement in the outside world.  He approaches Maylene's death with the professional skills that he'd developed over the years and finds the town's secrecy and approach to Mayelene's death frustrating and disconcerting.

When Rebekkah returns, Bryon finds that he is as much in love with her now as when they were teens.  Fortunately,  Rebekkah seems to welcome him back into her life.  They work together and as they search for who caused Maylene's death. 

Graveminder combines a love story with mystery and magic.   It's a captivating and engrossing read.

ISBN-10: 0061826871 - Hardcover $22.99
Publisher: William Morrow (May 17, 2011) 336 pages.
Review cover courtesy of the publisher.

About the Author:
Melissa Marr is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series of young adult novels: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity,  Radiant Shadows and Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely).  She currently lives in the Washington D.C. area with her husband and children.  Graveminder is her first adult novel. Learn more about Melissa Marr at www.melissa-marr.com