Morbidly Yours

Fairbanks’s uneven debut sends bubbly Texan animator Lark to Galway, Ireland, for a nine-month animation project. She hopes the distance from home will help her through her grief over her husband’s death. Lark initially thinks Willow Haven, the beautiful, ivy-covered building next door to her rental home, is a bed and breakfast—only to learn that it’s actually a funeral home run by tall, dark, and deadpan mortician Callum, the third-generation owner. When Callum lets slip that his grandfather’s will stipulates that Callum, 34, must marry by 35 or lose the funeral home, Lark offers to help him find a wife. Except the more she sees of shy, stuttering Callum, the less she can stand the idea of letting him get away. The setting is unique, and Fairbanks is admirably frank about death and grieving, but the pacing feels off and the sex scenes are oddly detached from the rest of the plot. What readers are told about Lark—that she wishes she could be bolder, for instance—contrasts sharply with how Lark actually behaves, barging into Callum’s life (and his house) without qualms. Callum himself is an admirable hero, with impressive depths. Despite its flaws, this will appeal to readers who don’t mind some death in their “til death do us part.” Agent: Caitlin Mahony, WME. (Aug.)