I don’t know what it is about these books.
I love the idea of them. Amelia Gray is a Graveyard Restorer. She is commissioned by individuals or towns or organisations to clean, clear and restore old graveyards to their former glory. This can involve a lot of research, making sure that nothing is damaged or moved too far from its original positioning, and that the gravestones are all documented and assigned to their correct occupants.
So far, sounds interesting, right?
Also? Amelia can see ghosts. She has rules for sightings – never acknowledge, never engage. All of this starts to go to hell in a handbasket (somewhat literally) when she meets John Devlin, who is haunted by the ghosts of his gone-too-soon wife and daughter.
Also also? There are murders!
All of this sounds like a recipe for a bit of fun, right?
But something goes wrong. I’ve read the first three books in the series twice (twice!), and I still cannot tell you who the murderer is in any of them. I finished the most recent one three weeks ago, and it hasn’t stuck. I… something about voodoo dust?
I start reading them, and I drift off. I am intrigued! I drift back into the world while I am not reading the books themselves, but for some reason, the words on the page simply cannot hold my interest for long.
So, my best guess, if you’d like to take a crack – please, someone take a crack and tell me what happens? I really want to know, but I cannot get there myself.
Book One – There’s a university graveyard, there are some ritual murders, and it was the creepy dude. Devlin’s daughter leaves a ring from Amelia and she vows not to engage further. Something very scary is hiding in the woods, and her dad says it’s an Outsider or something similar. Evil, regardless.
Book Two – OK. Amelia goes out of town to get away from Devlin. She meets the Ruling Family of some random creepy island somewhere. The original cemetery is underwater, because of Reasons To Do With Money. She’s restoring the Ruling Family’s graveyard. There’s an adopted son as heir apparent to the Ruling Family, there’s a creepy lady who probably cannot turn into a cat but gives me that impression anyway, and then Amelia is having a fling with Adopted Son but turns out to be Actual Descendant of the Ruling Fam, and then the house slides off the mountain and people die. This is a lot. I actually kind of remember some of this one.
Book Three – Oh, I’ve got the least on this one, and its most recent. So. Ghost/Voodoo dust is bad. I’m looking at my kindle and I clearly finished this! Was I drunk? No, I quit drinking. How is this so far gone? Devlin’s in this one. His wife murdered the daughter. The Voodoo Dust guy is her… cousin? Adopted brother? Actual brother? Is there even a graveyard in this book? I have retained nothing else.
So: in summary, I would like to have enjoyed and recommended these books to you all, but I cannot remember reading them whatsoever. They just slide off the sides of my brain.