Graveminder

by Melissa Marr

The book follows Rebekkah Barrow, a woman that returns to the small town of Claysville in order to attend the funeral of her grandmother Maylene. She remembers that Maylene always attended the funerals of each townsperson, always taking three sips from a flask and telling the dead to "sleep well and stay where I put you". Once back in Claysville, Rebekkah meets up with her old love interest Byron Montgomery and discovers that she is expected to perform the same ritual that her grandmother did for each funeral, as she is the new Graveminder. Not only is Rebekkah the new Graveminder, but Byron is her Undertaker and her helper in placing the dead back in their grave if the ritual is not performed exactly right. When performed incorrectly or not at all, the dead will walk the earth in an attempt to fulfill their hungers, which is exactly what happens. Rebekkah is soon drawn into a web of secrets, bargains, secret worlds, and murder that threatens to ruin the peace of those in Claysville.