Frightful Friday: Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Frightful Friday is a weekly meme in which I feature a particularly scary or chilling book that I’ve read that week.

This week’s featured book is Graveminder by Melissa Marr:

Rebekkah Barrow left her small hometown of Claysville nearly a decade ago after the death of her sister.  She left behind her grandmother, Maylene, who had an odd affinity for minding the dead in the town’s cemetary.  She was always the last person to leave the site of a grave after a funeral, taking a three sips from her silver flask, reciting the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Claysville has always been a quiet little town. No one ever seems to get sick or die before their time.  If citizens do happen to attempt to leave the town for the “real world” they always return.  The town is overseen by “the Council”, which oversees everything that goes on in Claysville, including granting permission for couples to bear children.

The burial practices of Claysville are quite unique; Maylene serves as the tender, the minder of the graves.  The dead are not embalmed; strict rules require that they be buried shortly after their death.

It’s not until Beka returns to Claysville when she hears Maylene is dead that she learns there was a reason for her grandmother’s quirky actions.  The worlds of the living and the dead are connected in Claysville, a town full of dark secrets and mystery.  Centuries ago the townspeople struck a pact with “Mr. D”, overseer of the dark, dead city beneath Claysville. The citizens of Claysville must do their part to keep bury the dead…and mind their graves to prevent them from rising.

Graveminder is Melissa Marr’s foray into adult fiction.  Graveminder serves as the perfect bridge between YA and adult fiction; it lends itself to readers of both genres.  Fans of Marr’s Wicked Lovely series will appreciate the authors skill at eloquent prose while readers new to the author’s work will be jolted by her skill of creating incredibly strong characters and writing that quite literally chills you to the bone.  Dare I say I love Graveminder  more than the Wicked Lovely series?  It sheds a completely new look at the undead, painting them in an almost sympathetic light, mixing zombie lore with folk history; a tremendous combination.

Fans of dark, gothic supernatural fiction are guaranteed to enjoy Graveminder.  Highly recommended!

Be sure to check out Marr’s web site for some pretty outstanding material to accompany the book, including a visual history of graveminders and their undertakers!