Joe R. Lansdale's Edge of Dark Water is a darkly gripping tale--kind of like Stephen King and the Brother's Grimm got together to write a story. It's a Southern gothic tale of a rag-tag bunch of friends who set out to first, dig up their friend, May Lynn (they think she was murdered) and then burn her to ash, so they can take her to Hollywood where she always wanted to go. It's a wild ride from there on as they're pursued by some ruthless folk who have something to hide. It's a murder mystery thriller but the characters are richly developed and you want to stay with them for the entire ride. Another author deemed Lansdale the "master of hillbilly noir. . ." and suggests you ". . .climb in the boat and hang on for dear life: the water is rough."