*****5 Stars*****
The first line of the book, "I was nine when I saw my first ghost," set off the alarm bells in my mind. I cannot begin to explain the primal and visceral reaction I had to this one. There were times when I literally had to set the book down to shudder and smooth away the goose bumps. It was as if she called all my family and friends and asked them what my phobias were, to a tee. From ghosts to snakes, to spiders, to claustrophobia, to looking out the window at night! But I can 100%, without a doubt tell you that I absolutely loved this book, every moment of it.
The freaky paranormal aspect of this book wasn't the only thing that drew me in, it is rich with Southern traditions, well researched history, and interesting settings. The intriguingly sinister ghosts, that were not your run of the mill misunderstood specters that will go to their rest if you find Grandma's doily for them. Her writing flows so well. I loved that she made use of seldom used words and phrasing, lots of southern colloquialisms and didn't feel the need to over explain the `big' words, because contextually they were unmistakable. She even used phonetic Gullah in some conversations, which added to the vibrancy of the novel.
Amelia is someone I would like to call my friend. She is a cemetery restorer and also has a blog named, "Digging Graves," that were it real, I would totally be stalking. She is a bit odd, reclusive maybe and standoffish with most people, but heck y'all if I were seeing ghosts, you might have already committed me! Because of her, let's call it `talent', she doesn't do relationships well, and when the hot John Devlin shows up, sparks fly, and collide. He is a man with a past, and still hung up on his late wife and child....and they on him. So while there is a romance element to the book , and a pretty smoking smutty scene, it is more of a hum in the background because she knows that she can't be with him. I will leave it for you to discover why.
The murder mystery which Amelia gets drawn into was well done, with lots of twists and turns and you totally don't see the complete picture until the very end and what an ending! While on campus of Emerson University for the restoration of Oak Grove Cemetery, she becomes the target of the murderer, for what the murderer thinks she knows. The murderer taunts her using her blog and using grave stone art and poems found throughout the cemetery as well as the symbolism of Emerson's elite secret society, knowing that she is the only one who will be able to "read" the symbolism in the clues.
I eagerly am looking forward to the next novel, The Kingdom (The Graveyard Queen #2), as I am dying to know more about Amelia and her family, as there were a lot of questions left unanswered about her family, especially her parents. I for one cannot wait to see what kind of mystery Amelia gets dragged into next and what role the cemetery art and symbolism will play.
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