Amanda Stevens has created a fabulous heroine in THE
RESTORER, the first in her Graveyard Queen series. Amelia
Gray restores cemeteries by trade, but she also can see
ghosts. For years, she has lived by the rules passed on by
her father to protect her from the spirits who would drain
her energy if they could get close. Amelia meets police
detective John Devlin while working on the restoration of
Oak Grove Cemetery on the Emerson University campus in
Charleston. Devlin wants to look at Amelia's pictures to
see if he can spot any clues to the murder victim they've
found.
Amelia may be the only one who can interpret the clues
wrapped in headstone symbology, but as attracted as she is
to Devlin, she wants and needs to stay away from him.
Devlin nearly always has two ghosts with him, and
according to the rules, Amelia must stay away from those
who are haunted. Amelia's curiosity is peaked, and she
begins investigating the identity of the ghosts and their
reason for always following Devlin. But there's even more
afoot than dead bodies and ghosts, and Amelia's curiosity
just might get the better of her.
Stevens has written a brilliantly haunted tale in THE
RESTORER. This book stands head and shoulders above the
pack of run-of-the-mill paranormal books that come out
each month. Not only does Amelia have an interesting and
very different job, but she's eminently fallible as well
and thus easy to root for and relate to. Stevens develops
terrific and three-dimensional secondary characters as
well.
Stevens captured my attention with her writing style as
well; I could easily picture the lichen-strewn
gravestones, cracked marble and faded lettering as well as
the picture-perfect clapboard houses of Charleston. Each
chapter ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, so it's not an
easy book to put down once you've started. Might also not
want to read it too late at night either.
Fans of Faith Hunter, Patricia Briggs, and Suzanne McLeod
will love Amelia Gray. She may soon become your favorite
heroine, and this could easily become a favorite series. I
know I have little patience and am eager for book two in
this series.
Every cemetery has a story. Every grave has its secrets. Amelia Gray was nine when she first became aware of ghosts - those beautiful, nebulous, dangerous beings that drift among us, seeking what they can never have again - life. That's why they attach themselves like supernatural leeches to their hosts, draining them of warmth and energy. As a child, Amelia's playground was an old cemetery, a hallowed place where her father worked as caretaker. Alone and often lonely, she wandered through the lush fern beds an curtains of gray-green moss, pretending the stone angels and cherubs were fairies and gnomes and she their ruler, queen of her very own graveyard kingdom. Nowadays Amelia is a cemetery restorer, traveling all over the South, cleaning up forgotten and abandoned graveyards and repairing worn and broken headstones. In order to protect herself, Amelia has long adhered to the rules laid down by her father: (1) Never acknowledge the dead; (2) Never stray far from hallowed ground; (3) Never associate with those who are haunted and (4) Never, ever, tempt fate. But one day John Devlin, an enigmatic police detective haunted by the ghosts of his dead wife and daughter, enters Amelia's world and everything begins to change, including the rules that have always kept her safe. Devlin's there to investigate the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard that Amelia has been hired to restore. The clues to the killer - and to his other victims - lie in headstone symbolism that only Amelia can decipher. Soon it becomes clear that Devlin needs Amelia's help to trap to brutal killer seemingly intent on "repopulating" an old cemetery. But Devlin's nearness and their growing attraction constitute the very gravest of threats for Amelia. Devlin's ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into Amelia's life but something she's vowed never to do. However, the pull of Devlin's magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead Amelia closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.
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