I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
The Graveyard Girls by Rita Herron Series: Detective Ellie Reeves #11
Published by Bookouture on August 14, 2025
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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?
Captivating characters headline this suspenseful series! The eleventh book in the Detective Ellie Reeves series begins with a bang when a murder starts leading investigators on a chase against time to find out who is taking these teen girls and how they’ve missed it for so long! This series has been great from the very first book, but I feel like the deeper we get into it, the less the core background is retold so it’s making it hard to be considered a stand-alone story at this point without going back and reading every book in order. I think some basics need to be updated as a minimum like the history of Ellie, her parents, the sheriff, Cord and Derrick, her half sis, etc., in order for someone to be able to pick up a new book and not feel like they are missing a part of the story. That said, this book had a very interesting concept and had twists that kept me guessing. I did enjoy finally having a bit of the Ellie/Cord/Derrick situation finally locked in and even seeing more future happiness on the horizon with how this book played out. Overall I love Ellie and can’t wait to continue her saga!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a police intense case that always plays out with suspense and danger. I do recommend reading in order at this point in order to get the full enjoyment out of each character and especially keeping up on Ellie’s background story.
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