The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

Title: The Restorer
Author: Amanda Stevens
Publisher: MIRA Books
Source: NetGalley

From the back of the book:

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.

When I finished reading The Restorer my first thought was “It can’t end here!” quickly followed by “When is the next book out?” I think the publication date was pushed back from November 2011 to March 2012. The next book in the series is The Kingdom.

The Restorer has suspense, a forbidden romance and even  a few lighthearted moments. Amelia Gray is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about cemeteries. Stevens lets the reader figure out the mystery alongside Gray which I like. The characters are fleshed out and the plot is nicely paced.

Author Bio
Amanda Stevens lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and a black cat named Lola. She is an avid reader, a fledgling taphophile and a collector of Alfred Hitchcock memorabilia. When she’s not writing, she likes taking road trips to Austin.