(Graveyard Queen #1)
Amanda Stevens
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Never stray far from hallowed ground.
Never get close to the haunted.
Never, ever tempt fate.
My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to these rules passed down from my father…until now.
Detective John Devlin needs my help to find a killer, but he is haunted by ghosts who shadow his every move. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the headstone symbols lead me closer to truth and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.
Amanda Stevens delivers an eerie murder mystery with the added plus of the paranormal in The Restorer.
Amelia is a lonely character, having to live her whole life avoiding ghosts and those haunted by them. She has trained herself not to react when spotting a ghost, and this talent often carries over into her everyday life when trying to hide her reactions and emotions. There is a distance between Amelia and her friends and family. She keeps this horrible secret to herself with only her father knowing about it.
The Restorer reads like a murder mystery, with Amelia spending most of the plot following clues and trying to help the police find the murderer who keeps leaving bodies in the cemetery she is currently working on. Amelia is a great character and is perfectly written for this role. She's strong when she should be strong and terrified when she should be terrified. Her partner in solving the grisly murders is John Devlin, who I imagined as a typical, old-school cop. Devlin is tough and gruff, but something about him attracts Amelia right away. Don't be too excited about the promise of romance, however. Although this book says paranormal romance on the spine, I would not describe it so. The attraction between Amelia and Devlin is tension filled and has a few great moments, but it doesn't really amount to much in this one. I would call this book more of a paranormal mystery, with a splash of romance.
And speaking of paranormal - whew! Stevens ghosts are not of the Casper variety. They are spooky and scary. The idea that a ghost could attach itself to you and slowly suck away your happiness, your energy, and your life force is simply terrifying. There weren't many 'jump out and grab you moments', rather the scariness comes more from the constant feeling of creepiness throughout the novel.
An awesome series starter that combines mystery with paranormal and leaves the reader guessing 'whodunnit' till the very last chapter, The Restorer will both frighten and excite you!
