Graveyard Shift: A Novella

by M. L. Rio

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Sharp, gothic and gruesome, this graveyard has a secret to tell — and we can't wait to uncover it.

THE USA TODAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER!
The author of sales sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story about a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.

Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks—and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

Atmospheric and eerie, with the ensemble cast her fans love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M. L. Rio’s inimitable style.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250356796
Publisher:	Flatiron Books
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

M. L. Rio holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe and a PhD in English from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her bestselling first novel If We Were Villains has been published in twenty countries and eighteen languages. Graveyard Shift is her first novella.

Editorial Reviews

"This place has everything—rats, fungus, thrills, chills, mysteries, hostile incidents—and M.L. Rio deftly weaves it all together into a short, sweet (okay maybe not that sweet) story. A rad, crisp, creepy read."
—Chuck Wendig, bestselling author of Black River Orchard and The Book of Accidents

“Like all M. L. Rio's work, Graveyard Shift is shot through with cool, heavily dosed with ennui, and dense with people-pleasures. Within this tangled skein of complicated characters (ranging from sweetly unhinged to truly problematic), Rio presents a world of nihilistic macabre only to strip it back, painting the gruesome with a softer brush and her singular gift for portraiture.”
—Olivie Blake, bestselling author of Atlas Six

“Graveyard Shift is wonderful - dark, strange and hair-raisingly tense - it spills over with atmosphere, full of flawed, fascinating characters. I raced through it.”
—Catriona Ward, bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street

“[A] satisfying follow-up to If We Were Villains. . . Rio stuffs a plethora of surprises into her concise narrative without skimping on character development. This packs a punch.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An eerie, creepy and atmospheric quick read.”
—CapesandTights.com

“A 144 page shivery tale.”
—Parade, Parade’s Best New Book Releases This Month

“Creepy vibes, cool characters, off-the-rails research, and an academic setting that will leave readers wanting more. . . Graveyard Shift is a cool, quick, creepy read that makes you wonder what ramifications poorly tested therapies or rushed science can have on the human race.”
—FreshFiction.com

“Quite entertaining. Rio brings her characteristic beautiful prose to the book, which revels in small details and character quirks. . . Rio is sure to please the dark academia cult following that she established with her earlier novel.”
—The Harvard Crimson

From the Publisher