The House by the Cemetery

Childs (the Bane Island novels) launches a new series with this tense and atmospheric whodunit. The Gold family’s funeral home in Gold Creek, Mich., has remained prosperous despite an urban legend that its cemetery is haunted by a gravedigger’s ghost. Just before dying, Gregory Gold, 85, comes face-to-face with that legend; after being paralyzed by poison, which he suspects was administered by a family member, he sees a light in the graveyard and hears the sounds of digging. Gregory’s death leads his daughter, River, to break her vow never to return to Gold Creek after running away as a teen. After River arrives, she gets caught up in an inquiry into her father’s death led by newly elected sheriff Luke Sebastian, who won the position despite having no investigative experience. Scenes from the unnamed killer’s perspective ratchet up the suspense. Despite the large cast, many of whom have complicated backstories, Childs never takes her foot off the gas, ushering the mystery toward a genuinely thrilling conclusion. Readers will be hungry for the sequel. Agent: Michelle Grajkowski, Three Seas Literary. (Sept.)