Death and the Girl Next Door

“Don’t you think?” Brooke asked.

I eased my hand around her arm and stepped back onto the path. She caught on instantly and looked into the forest again.

In a hushed whisper, she said, “I still don’t see anything.”

“I do.” When the shape emerged from behind the tree, hunched down like it was going to attack, Brooke gasped, finally seeing it. I squeezed her arm tighter and whispered, “Run.”

ALSO BY DARYNDA JONES

Third Grave Dead Ahead

Second Grave on the Left

First Grave on the Right

Praise for Death and the Girl Next Door

“Only Darynda Jones could make the Angel of Death crush-worthy! Wickedly sharp with brilliant wit, Death and the Girl Next Door will leave you craving more!”

—Lara Chapman, author of Flawless

“Outrageously funny, sinfully sexy, with a cast of characters that steals your heart from the very first page … I loved this book!”

—Inara Scott, author of the Delcroix Academy series

“Snapping with sarcasm and a pitch-perfect voice, Death and the Girl Next Door brings Darynda Jones’s signature humor and supernatural sass to Riley High. Trust me, there’s nothing grim about this reaper!”

—Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times bestselling author of Don’t You Wish

“Death and the Girl Next Door is unputdownable. Darynda Jones breathes fresh life into the Young Adult genre with exciting twists to legends we only think we understand and edgy, compelling characters you can’t help but care about.”

—Gwen Hayes, author of Falling Under

“Death and the Girl Next Door delivers a smokin’ hot story and a guy to die for. Darynda Jones gives one candy-smacking, awesome read that won’t let you go until the end.”

—Shea Berkley, author of The Marked Son

“I loved this book. Death and the Girl Next Door is equal parts funny, thrilling, and hot. Teens will fall hard for the hero, an original and exciting take on the Angel of Death.”

—Maureen McGowan, author of the Twisted Tales series

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author DARYNDA JONES won a Golden Heart for Best Paranormal Romance for her manuscript First Grave on the Right. A born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. Visit Darynda at www.daryndajones.com.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. Copyright © 2012 by Darynda Jones. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Olga Grlic

Cover photographs: girl by Jupiterimages/Getty Images; blond male by Image Source/Getty Images; black- haired male by Yuri Arcurs/Shutterstock; lockers by Jesse Kunerth/Shutterstock

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jones, Darynda.

Death and the girl next door / Darynda Jones. — 1st ed.

       p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-62520-7 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-250-01722-2 (e-book)

  1.  Teenage girls—Fiction.   2.  Orphans—Fiction.   3.  Stalking—Fiction.   4.  Paranormal romance stories, American.   I.  Title.

PS3610.O6236D43 2012

813'.6—dc23

2012026408

e-ISBN 9781250017222

First Edition: October 2012