Death, the Gardener, Daniel T. Dodaro's debut novel, blends fantasy, myth, and fairy tale to cultivate a story as colorful and heartfelt as it is intriguing and mysterious.

"Oh, you don’t know? I’d have thought you’d figure it out straightaway. I’m Mot. Or, more simply, Death."

The Grim Reaper is not at all like legends describe. In reality, he is a debonair gardener by the name of Mot. Every person’s life is bound to a rose in his garden, and every person’s death occurs when their rose is snipped. Every person but one.

When Cloth wakes up in Mot’s garden, she quickly learns that she has broken all sorts of rules by returning as the first-ever ghost. Her rose was snipped, yet she has surprisingly not passed on. And, to make matters worse, the shock of dying has caused her to lose all the memories of her life.

In desperate need of an assassin, Mot decides to look past Cloth’s mysterious predicament and make her an offer: he’ll help her pass on, but, in exchange, she must hunt and kill three thieves for him. However, these are no ordinary thieves; each of them has stolen a rose from Mot’s garden and, in doing so, has gained immortality.

If Cloth stands any chance of succeeding, she must don Mot’s fabled cloak and shears to become a true emissary of Death. Can she assassinate her three targets without losing sight of who she was while alive?