The Restorer, by Amanda Stevens

NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEAD.


NEVER STRAY FROM HALLOWED GROUND.

NEVER GET CLOSE TO THE HAUNTED.

NEVER, EVER TEMPT FATE.

My father’s rules.


I’ve never broken them…until now.

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.

Amelia's father's rules aren't difficult ones. But under these circumstances, it's impossible to have a "normal" life. You can't get too close to anyone, and certainly not anyone being followed by ghosts. And your work as a cemetary restorer and historian can itself put you in some danger.

Amelia is an amazing character. She's interesting, she's intellectual, she's inspiring in a way. She's not creepy or spooky by any means, regardless of her line of work or history. She's just....interesting. There's so many dimensions, that I hope to see explored in the upcoming books in the series.

Again, the story isn't just in Charleston. Charleston and its history and culture are vital to the story. (Why do so many authors fail to do this? It's not enough to just mention a famous location.) There's twists, and turns, and details you have to have caught or the next few pages make no sense.

It's a great start to a series I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment of--November can't get here fast enough!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Harlequin through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”