The Body Finder

It's time for a confession.  I regret to inform you that I fancy myself a bit of a sleuth.  I love a good mystery.  I like to think I can deduce any mystery.  I have even been nicknamed Nancy (as in Drew course) because of my love for the sleuthing (and plaid).  Well, I'm here to tell you that my pseudo- sleuthing has nothing on Violet Ambrose from Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder and its sequel, Desires of the Dead. 

Violet Ambrose is "called" to the dead.  Be it an animal or human, the dead reach out to Violet.  Violet senses what she calls an echo from anything that is dead and hasn't been laid to rest properly.  Sometimes this is a smell, others a visual- each living thing is different in death, just like in life.  As a small child, Violet created an animal graveyard in order to put these animals to rest.  As Violet began to become accustom to her unusual gift, she realized that who or whatever was responsible for a death also wore an identical echo linking it to the life that was taken. 

In The Body Finder, a killer is on the lose in Violet's small town.  Violet is unfortunate enough to  stumble  upon one of these bodies, thereby sensing that echo.  This means she would also be able to identify the killer of this young girl.  Violet and her friend, Jay, struggle with her need to find this killer but maintain her safety.  Yikes guys!   Could you imagine just being able to identify a killer by looking at him or her?  I don't even think the great Nancy Drew could make that happen.

The follow up to this exciting read, Desires of the Dead, also tells the story of Violet.  Her small town is surprised and fascinated by a new brother and sister who have moved to town and are attending their small high school.  Mike, the new boy about town, is quite a looker and easily becomes part of the crowd and particularly liked by Violet's now boyfriend, Jay.  But, his sister is another story all together.  In addition, Violet finds herself involved with the FBI in order to work through another crime.  In her involvement with the FBI, she comes in contact with someone she thinks might be able to help her understand her morbid gift.  Exciting?  Well, of course!

According to GoodReads, there will be two more installments in this series, although I don't know when to expect these.  However, Kimberly Derting does have a new book entitled The Pledge which will be released November 15.  It looks to be an thrilling, dystopian tale.  Nice.