Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

Amelia has seen ghosts since she was a child. The first time she was with her father, a cemetery caretaker and restorer, who she found out he could also see them. He gave her a very specific set of rules to follow, because once the door has opened between the living and the dead, something comes through, and it can never go back.

Now in her 20's, Amelia works as a cemetery restorer, working in old and long forgotten cemeteries, cleaning them up and restoring the headstones and the cemeteries themselves to their original state.

She is working at Oak Grove cemetery in the south when she's approached one might by Detective John Devlin, a man haunted by his own ghosts who she develops a strong attraction to, the likes of which she has never felt before. A body has been found in Oak Grove, only it is not one of those buried there. A young girl who was murdered in a brutal way was buried recently in an already occupied grave. Amelia is called in as a consultant to make sure nothing is disturbed or ruined during the investigation. As she works closely with Devlin, more bodies are discovered. Trying to figure out who the killer is, she is drawn inexplicably to Devlin and his ghosts, and breaks one of her fathers rules: stay away from those who are haunted.

I'm not a big fan of books that are a part of a series but I can't wait for the next book to come out. If you are looking for horror this isn't it, but it is definitely creepy enough. Amelia is a very likable character and I may have a fictional crush on the haunted detective, John Devlin and I think any woman with a pulse who reads this will agree. The book manages to solve the case of the murders while bringing a few things up throughout that makes you want to read the next book to see what's going to happen. This was a very pleasant surprise.

4 stars


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3 comments:

Natalie said...

I absolutely adored this book! I'm usually not a fan of mystery/suspense novels but this one totally changed my mind! I can't wait for the next one in the series!

diamondgirl said...

Do you know when the next one comes out? I have started reading the prequel, The Abandoned, and it says at the beginning the next one comes out in November 2011, but I can't find anything about it online anywhere.

Brasil said...

Charleston PD Detective John Devlin accompanied by the ghosts of a woman and a little girl approaches Amelia. He is unaware that his late wife and daughter haunt him. The haunted looking Devlin explains Emerson College Dr. Camille Ashby sent him to see her. The cop wants to look at the photos she took last week at Oak Grove Cemetery where the corpse of a battered female was found. The headstone provides clues to the serial killer, but only Amelia can interpret them. However, she does not want to get involved as she knows if she does, she will break a rule and have to deal with the two female family ghosts siphoning his energy to remain anchored here.