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A crackling mystery-horror novel with big-hearted characters and Southern charm with a bite, Bless Your Heart is a gasp-worthy delight from start to finish from debut author Lindy Ryan.
Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.
It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny—Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.
But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.
As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi’s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
"A gloriously gruesome, compulsively readable debut that is as grizzly as it is clever and heartfelt." - Rachel Harrison
Genre: Horror
Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.
It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny—Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.
But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi—the original vampire—are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.
As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi’s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.
"A gloriously gruesome, compulsively readable debut that is as grizzly as it is clever and heartfelt." - Rachel Harrison
Genre: Horror
Praise for this book
"If you don't think a horror novel can somehow feel like Steel Magnolias meets Buffy with a dab of Straub's Ghost Story, well . . . Bless Your Heart. Lindy Ryan's debut novel is a bloodsoaked blast, packed with delightful characters and shockingly gruesome mayhem. And its ending seems to imply further adventures involving the Evans women, something I would welcome like a glass of sweet tea on a hot summer day." - Nat Cassidy
"The Evans women have arrived and these southern belle slayers are carving out a spot in our undead hearts. Lindy Ryan has harnessed the charm and horror of a Romero-helmed Steel Magnolias, equal parts Carson McCullers and Bram Stoker. Bless her heart." - Clay McLeod Chapman
"Gory, spine-chilling, and deeply Southern, Bless Your Heart is a women-led fight against the rising dead. An absolute must-read for anyone who likes their horror with bite." - Darcy Coates
"A flesh-ripping, heartfelt good time. Lindy Ryan has crafted a matriarchal line in keeping with Practical Magic but with the added gory fun of Dead Until Dark. I was utterly charmed and can only hope I haven't seen the end of the Evans women." - Kristi DeMeester
"Lindy Ryan's debut, Bless Your Heart, is a delight! Small-town, multi-generational horror about a family of monster-hunting women who make sure the dead can rest, it's a creepy romp that begs for sequels. Check it out!" - Christopher Golden
"A gloriously gruesome, compulsively readable debut that is as grizzly as it is clever and heartfelt, offering an inventive, poignant, and thoroughly entertaining exploration of legacy. Absolutely brilliant." - Rachel Harrison
"Sparkling with magic and Southern charm, Bless Your Heart is a witty and compulsively readable story about family, duty, and the power to protect the ones we love the most. I was delightfully charmed by the women of the Evans family!" - Maureen Kilmer
"Lindy Ryan is among the most electrifying voices in the horror genre today. Her writing is devastating, beautiful, and horrifying in all the best ways. With her new novel, she's created a group of characters you won't ever forget set in a world that's sure to get under your skin. Bless Your Heart is everything you could want in a horror novel and more. Highly recommended." - Gwendolyn Kiste
"Such a brilliant blend of banter and dread. Authored with the confidence of a storyteller who knows every inch, cadence, and beat of their tale. Instantly cinematic. And if you're anything like me, you're going to wish you were part of the Evans family, working at the Evans Funeral Home, just so you can spend more time with these people. Lindy Ryan is on fire with this book." - Josh Malerman
"The Evans women have arrived and these southern belle slayers are carving out a spot in our undead hearts. Lindy Ryan has harnessed the charm and horror of a Romero-helmed Steel Magnolias, equal parts Carson McCullers and Bram Stoker. Bless her heart." - Clay McLeod Chapman
"Gory, spine-chilling, and deeply Southern, Bless Your Heart is a women-led fight against the rising dead. An absolute must-read for anyone who likes their horror with bite." - Darcy Coates
"A flesh-ripping, heartfelt good time. Lindy Ryan has crafted a matriarchal line in keeping with Practical Magic but with the added gory fun of Dead Until Dark. I was utterly charmed and can only hope I haven't seen the end of the Evans women." - Kristi DeMeester
"Lindy Ryan's debut, Bless Your Heart, is a delight! Small-town, multi-generational horror about a family of monster-hunting women who make sure the dead can rest, it's a creepy romp that begs for sequels. Check it out!" - Christopher Golden
"A gloriously gruesome, compulsively readable debut that is as grizzly as it is clever and heartfelt, offering an inventive, poignant, and thoroughly entertaining exploration of legacy. Absolutely brilliant." - Rachel Harrison
"Sparkling with magic and Southern charm, Bless Your Heart is a witty and compulsively readable story about family, duty, and the power to protect the ones we love the most. I was delightfully charmed by the women of the Evans family!" - Maureen Kilmer
"Lindy Ryan is among the most electrifying voices in the horror genre today. Her writing is devastating, beautiful, and horrifying in all the best ways. With her new novel, she's created a group of characters you won't ever forget set in a world that's sure to get under your skin. Bless Your Heart is everything you could want in a horror novel and more. Highly recommended." - Gwendolyn Kiste
"Such a brilliant blend of banter and dread. Authored with the confidence of a storyteller who knows every inch, cadence, and beat of their tale. Instantly cinematic. And if you're anything like me, you're going to wish you were part of the Evans family, working at the Evans Funeral Home, just so you can spend more time with these people. Lindy Ryan is on fire with this book." - Josh Malerman
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