The Body Finder ~ Kimberly Derting review

The Body Finder (#1)
HarperTeen
March 16, 2011
336 pages
Buy/info @ Amazon (hardcover) [& out today in paperback]

(also for a limited time, releasing Feb 22, The Body Finder along with a preview of Desires of the Dead is $1.99 for Kindle, NOOK, [and possibly others])


Violet has been drawn to dead bodies for as long as she can remember. The echoes of their death call to her. Until she's laid them peacefully, properly to rest.

After discovering--and digging up--the body of a dead girl while in elementary school, Violet knows that it's not only assorted animals she has the possibility of unearthing.

An end of summer day on the water with friends is supposed to be fun until Violet feels that familiar tug again . . . and this time she doesn't think it's going to be someone's dog gone astray.


Violet finds a murdered girl at the lake that day. And soon she isn't the only girl who's murderer that town is trying to find.

A murder Violet may be uniquely able to help find. Not only does she feel the echoes that the dead leave, she feels the imprint those dead leave on their killers--a sort of match game no one else can play.


The Body Finder seems to stand alone in being a beautifully written YA novel that does its characters justice, develops their relationships, builds a mystery, absolutely creeps the reader out, has more than a little suspense--and works at solving a crime, too! Anyone who loves police or crime shows on TV should really, really love Kimberly Derting's book. And if you want to love crime drama books but there's just too much gore in them, this one's perfect because there's still violence but every page isn't covered in blood.


Of course, that's not to say that it's not able to be as creepy or scary as any adult crime/thriller book . . . possibly even more so.

All of this is all while giving readers real characters in high school with believable relationships that they'll not only connect to but be routing for at the end.

The Body Finder will likely creep you out along the way but you won't be able to put it down anyway, so that's okay. And be sure you have Desires of the Dead (out today) on hand when you're finished . . . no way will you be able to stop after just one book!


10/10


(assuming my computer continues semi-cooperating, my Desires of the Dead review is coming in just a few minutes)