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Hail Mary
Published by Rising Action
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
For fans of Simone St. James and Jennifer McMahon, Hail Mary is a thriller about a woman returning to her small hometown and a haunted family business, where generational secrets and cold cases refuse to stay buried.
Welcome to North Shore Township.
Where you can never dig a grave too deep, and you can never keep a secret for too long.
The Foreman family has made their fortune burying the dead (and not just funeral services, allegedly). Mary Foreman fled North Shore Township years ago to escape her family’s legacy. But when her estranged mother reappears during a local election, reigniting rumors of corporate corruption and criminal activity, Mary’s uncle summons her to help with his campaign.
Mary leaves Toronto and takes up residence in Foreman House—the now-vacant gothic mansion once home to the Foremans and their infamous funeral business. She also secures a teaching job at her alma mater, St. Joseph’s School for Girls, set to unearth the time capsule her great-grandmother helped mastermind. But when the time capsule is opened, the family’s legacy rears its ugly head once again.
Embroiled in a criminal investigation—one with eerie parallels to several cold cases—Mary begins to unravel a truth rooted in her cursed matrilineal line, the haunted funeral home she grew up in, and the crime her mother stood trial for decades earlier. Crushed by the weight of the township’s suspicion, Mary must fight to prove her own innocence. Not only of recent crimes, but past ones, too. For this is the North Shore of Lake Huron, and the past is always present where the dead don’t die.
Welcome to North Shore Township.
Where you can never dig a grave too deep, and you can never keep a secret for too long.
The Foreman family has made their fortune burying the dead (and not just funeral services, allegedly). Mary Foreman fled North Shore Township years ago to escape her family’s legacy. But when her estranged mother reappears during a local election, reigniting rumors of corporate corruption and criminal activity, Mary’s uncle summons her to help with his campaign.
Mary leaves Toronto and takes up residence in Foreman House—the now-vacant gothic mansion once home to the Foremans and their infamous funeral business. She also secures a teaching job at her alma mater, St. Joseph’s School for Girls, set to unearth the time capsule her great-grandmother helped mastermind. But when the time capsule is opened, the family’s legacy rears its ugly head once again.
Embroiled in a criminal investigation—one with eerie parallels to several cold cases—Mary begins to unravel a truth rooted in her cursed matrilineal line, the haunted funeral home she grew up in, and the crime her mother stood trial for decades earlier. Crushed by the weight of the township’s suspicion, Mary must fight to prove her own innocence. Not only of recent crimes, but past ones, too. For this is the North Shore of Lake Huron, and the past is always present where the dead don’t die.
Product Details
- Publisher: Rising Action (September 22, 2026)
- Length: 364 pages
- ISBN13: 9781998672509
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Raves and Reviews
A spectacular debut. Urso’s deft story crafting and rich sense of place are mesmerizing. A book you’ll devour and then wish you could read all over again.
– Tamara L. Miller, author of Into the Fall and The Weight of Glass
A bloody portrait of generational female rage and revenge. With snappy dialogue and elegant prose, Urso has created a propulsive thriller that’s as haunting as it is suspenseful, and will linger like a ghost long after you finish the final page.
– De Elizabeth, author of She Haunts Me Still
Gripping and deeply atmospheric, Elizabeth Urso’s debut HAIL MARY, follows Mary Foreman, as she’s dragged back to her small hometown to face the plague of long-standing rumours, deeply-buried family secrets, and the burden of generational trauma (plus a few vengeful nuns, and a ghost or two haunting her family’s ancient funeral home). This rhythmic, mystery-filled gothic horror, is engaging, witty, and oh-so-perfectly gruesome.
– Ashley Tate, bestselling author of Twenty-Seven Minutes
Prepare to be enraptured by a compelling mystery and the macabre. This is a story that’ll keep you up late into the night wondering if ghosts have the ability to leap from the page.
– Elora Cook, author of In the Company of Killers
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