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 the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe. It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims—lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. 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 symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

REVIEW

CREEPY. ATMOSPHERIC. AN EXHILARATING READ.

I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written Gothic ghost story. Amanda Stevens is a new author to me and I found her skill at creating atmosphere and palpable tension absolutely top notch.

The main character, Amelia Gray, can see ghosts. She has been able to since she was nine, but under the strict rules implemented by her father, who can also see them, she has been warned she must:

1. Never acknowledge the dead.
2. Never stray far from hallowed ground.
3. Never associate with those who are haunted.
4. Never, ever tempt fate.

Of course, this is easier said than done when you can feel their icy breath on your neck and their fingers in your hair. It takes the term "poker face" to an entirely new level.

Amelia is asked by a local homicide detective, John Devlin, for aid in a case where a murder victim has turned up at the very graveyard she is currently restoring, in the hopes that she may have captured something on the hundreds of pre-restoration images she took just before the victim's body was found. Amelia would be only too happy to assist, except for one thing.

John Devlin is a haunted man.

The developing relationship between these two characters is timid and somewhat strained for that reason, but riveting nonetheless. I initially found Amelia's character a little stiff and reserved, but then I realised this was just the effect of having to always hide her emotions so as not to react to the spirits she can see all around her. My opinion of her had completely changed by the middle of the book. She is neither cold nor standoffish as it may appear in the beginning. What she is is quiet, intelligent, a little innocent and naive in some ways, cautious and most of all, lonely.

The mystery was very well executed. It had me guessing and then rethinking my guesses and I stayed up until o-dark thirty to read the end which was just fantastic. There were a few very intriguing threads left open for the next book(s) which I am very excited about.

Overall verdict: If you like your characters more subtle, but ultimately more complex. If you like to be thoroughly spooked. If you're a sucker for a brooding, lonely man with a past. You will simply adore this book. Just as I did.

5 spooky Stars! ★★★★★