Pretty Little Dead Girls

“Run, Star Girl.” 

Bryony Adams is destined to be murdered , but fortunately Fate has terrible marksmanship. In order to survive, she must run as far and as fast as she can. After arriving in Seattle, Bryony befriends a tortured musician, a market fish-thrower, and a starry-eyed hero who is secretly a serial killer bent on fulfilling Bryony’s dark destiny. 

Mercedes M. Yardley’s Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy is a dark, lovely fairy tale with lyrical language and a high body count , and features a cover by Hugo award-winner Galen Dara. Pretty Little Dead Girls carries on the proud tradition of Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, and Aimee Bender

Includes “Oliver Bloom” by Ryan Johnson , a short story featuring characters from Pretty Little Dead Girls.

Proudly brought to you by  Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths

Interview with the Author:

How did you come up with such a unique character?

Mercedes: There’s a story to this. I was in line at a bank several years ago and a stranger grabbed my hand. He had tears in his eyes and said, “You’re the type of girl who gets murdered.”

Well. Well. I didn’t quite know what to say to that. I’m not certain there really is anything to say. I answered, “Yes, I know,” and to this day I’m not sure why.

That was the beginnings of Bryony Adams, a girl who is marked for murder. I wondered how a woman meant to die would choose to live. Would she regret it? Fear it? Would she take her own life because the waiting would drive her crazy? I very much wanted to explore her, and discovered a beautiful, caring girl. She’s quite a delight.

Are there more books in the Pretty Little Dead Girls universe?

Mercedes: Actually, there are! I love this world and the hungry, prowling desert so much that I have several stories that take place here. “Cactus Flowers and Bone Flutes” is a short story that takes place prior to Pretty Little Dead Girls. I have a short story called “The Container of Sorrows” that is an Easter Egg having to do with the serial killer. A spin-off of that, concerning the girl who never looks at him, is called “Black Eyes Broken.” One of the characters from Bryony’s high school makes a brief cameo in the second book in the Bone Angel Trilogy. And we meet Detective Ryan Bridger as a younger man in a book I have coming out titled Stormlight. These are fun things I do for me. I find a character and want them to live on. They have lives that continue outside of the original story and I want to explore that.

Why should readers give Pretty Little Dead Girls a shot?

Mercedes: Pretty Little Dead Girls is exceptionally unique. It’s a thriller/romance/horror/magical realism/lyrical story that breaks most literary rules. I usually explain it was a fairytale with a high body count. The prose is exceptionally lush, there’s a serial killer most people seem to be charmed by, and even though it’s about murder and loss, there’s something very innocent about it. It’s a book that makes you want to be a better friend. I recommend it when you want to read something that will make you feel better about society.