Graveyard Girls
Rita Herron
432 pages
Bookouture
published August 14, 2025
About the book
A shrill scream pierced the night air. She caught the fluttering bedroom curtain and held it aside. Her little sister stared over her shoulder, trembling. A figure they knew, in a dark coat and ski hat, emerged from the bushes and stared at the window. If they tried to stop him, they’d end up in the ground…
When the skeletal remains of a teenage girl are discovered buried in a deserted graveyard it’s a chilling case for Detective Ellie Reeves. Her heart catches with emotion as she examines the grave for clues and uncovers a haunting detail. One red shoe lies in the dirt, just like the one sixteen-year-old Ruth Higgins was wearing when she disappeared years earlier. Everyone in the town mourned beautiful golden girl Ruth, but her suspected killer, gravedigger Earl Bramble, escaped from police custody and hasn’t been seen since.
Ellie knows she must work fast, and then a call comes in that turns the blood in her veins to ice. Another teenage girl, a recent runaway, has been found buried with one red shoe. The evidence suggests that Earl must be back. But when Ellie goes to the old clapboard house where Earl’s daughters still live, they claim to know nothing about their father…
Ellie needs her team on side to help her solve this shocking case. But just as she begins to make headway, she discovers a connection from the past between one of her most trusted colleagues and the gravedigger’s daughters that throws everything she thought into disarray. With parents terrified, girls in danger and a cold-hearted killer stealing innocent lives, can Ellie find him, and make him pay, before it is too late?
My Review
I can’t believe this is book 11 of the series. And I can’t believe that things are starting to fall into place for Ellie. She’s had her struggles and this series is as much about the case as it is about the team working to solve it. While it works well as a stand alone as the author fills in anything you might need to know from previous cases, I am just as much a fan of catching up with the team and see how they’ve grown. This installment there is a little more of Cord’s past.
The case is a dark and sad one that Ellie and her team work tirelessly to solve. It’s a little emotional as a serial killer targets girls.
With short chapters and a compelling case, I flew through this one. There was no shortage of suspects and secrets and while I did eventually piece it together, it took me a while and I enjoyed the journey. Multiple viewpoints and flashbacks helped layer the story and keep me wanting more. I like how eventually all the pieces join together.
This series is on my list of favorite police procedurals. The balance of case and team along with the writing keep me coming back. Is it too soon to be thinking about book 12?
About the author
USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job.
With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA novels, but she especially likes writing dark romantic suspense and crime fiction set in small southern towns.
For more on. Rita and her titles, visit her at www.ritaherron.com.
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