Mercy for the Dead

In this Southern gothic paranormal mystery for fans of Grady Hendrix and T. Kingfisher, the whispered words of the dead spur the search for a killer.

As the night receiver for the Sterling Home for Fine Funerals in Charleston, South Carolina, Alice Belrose’s only duty is to unlock the gate for bodies that arrive after dark. She is not to enter the mortuary under any circumstances. But when the matriarch of the powerful Duvall family offers her a substantial sum to sit with the body of a young hit-and-run victim, Alice’s curiosity gets the better of her.

For years, she’s tuned out the voices of the dead. But Alice can no longer ignore her calling when she hears the dead woman’s ghostly pleas from the new arrival: Find her…

Eighteen years ago, twin sisters were abducted from a school playground in Alice’s hometown. Elodie was later found alone on the side of the highway with no memory of what had happened, but Amalia was never seen again. Now, tragically, Elodie is dead. Her last request—command—is that Alice find her long-lost sister.

Aldous Caine, an enigmatic private detective hired by Elodie’s grandmother, draws Alice in, even though her instincts tell her that he has his own agenda. Their search leads them back to Alice’s hometown and to a terrible revelation that could destroy her own family.

Pursued by a ruthless killer and specters from her past, Alice soon learns that for everything found, something precious must be lost.