Graveyard Shift: the highly anticipated new book by the author of the BookTok sensation If We Were Villains - Softcover

Rio, M. L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1035421135 ISBN 13: 9781035421138

Publisher: Wildfire, 2025

Synopsis

The bestselling author of international BookTok sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story of a group of misfits who meet in the local cemetery each night to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.

Every night, in the college's ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn't there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks--and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

Atmospheric and eerie, featuring an ensemble of misfits that fans will love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M. L. Rio's inimitable style.

About this title

About the Author

M. L. Rio is the author of international bestseller and BookTok sensation If We Were Villains. She holds an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King's College London and Shakespeare's Globe and a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research explores representations of madness and mood disorder on the early modern stage. She lives in Washington, D. C. with too many books, too many records, and a mutt called Marlowe.

From the Back Cover

The bestselling author of international BookTok sensation If We Were Villains returns with a gripping mystery surrounding a group of misfits who meet in the local cemetery each night.

Every night, in the college's ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn't there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks--and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

Atmospheric and eerie, with the ensemble cast her fans love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M. L. Rio's inimitable style.

'Graveyard Shift is shot through with cool . . . Rio presents a world of nihilistic macabre only to strip it back, painting the gruesome with a softer brush and her singular gift for portraiture.'

Olivie Blake


'Graveyard Shift is wonderful-dark, strange, and hair-raisingly tense. It spills over with atmosphere, full of flawed, fascinating characters.'
Catriona Ward


'A rad, crisp, creepy read.'
Chuck Wendig

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£8.99

Edition details

• Publisher: Wildfire
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1035421135
• ISBN 13: 9781035421138
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160