Review--Graveminder by Melissa Marr

The New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series delivers her first novel for adults, a story about the living, the dead, and a curse that binds them.

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small 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, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.

Although she is still grieving for Maylene, Rebekkah will soon find that she has more than a funeral to attend to in Claysville, and that what awaits her may be far worse: dark secrets, a centuries-old bargain, a romance that still haunts her, and a frightening new responsibility--to stop a monster and put the dead to rest where they belong.

Melissa Marr's debut adult novel, Graveminder was incredible! Beautifully written with intriguing characters and a mystery that blows you away!

The novel was told in multiple third person p.o.v. so we got to see a lot happen and yet the mystery of what the heck is going on, is still a mystery. The town of Claysville knows what's going on, but Rebekkah and Bryon aren't in the know-how yet. Although they know really, is that something weird is going on.

There's a lot of backstory to Bryon and Rebekkah, and yet Marr tells it with a few flashbacks here and there. The only thing that kind of threw me off was that Rebekkah used to live in Claysville when she was a young teen in high school. She moved away before graduation so to me that seems like a 3 year life in Claysville and yet so much happened while she was there and the talk of years between Rebekkah and Bryon kept getting me all confused as to how much time they actually spent together when they were young. 

The mystery aspect was pretty good. Sure when we got a few more clues I already knew "who-done-it", but it was still a surprise in some ways. And learning about who some of the other unsavory characters were was an interesting spin as well. Although I still feel like I have questions to the enigmatic Mr. D. He reveals some of his character in the novel, mostly towards the end, but I wasn't overly satisfied with the answers.

But overall it was a fabulous read! Well paced and filled with surprises left and right! I sincerely hope that Melissa will write more with these characters and that this is the start of a new series rather than a stand-alone novel. Anyone know for sure?

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars--the result of a few questions here and there and the one minor time length confusion didn't deter me from totally loving this book!