The Body Finder deals with a premise that we’ve seen a lot in paranormal novels, having a connection to the dead. But what I like about The Body Finder is that it manages to take a different spin on that kind of connection, while blending the paranormal and real world almost seamlessly.

The Body Finder is about Violet, a girl who can sense the bodies of the dead, especially the unrest. Her secret is known by her family and best friend Jay; all of who helped her cope with her “gift.” When girls from Violet’s small town go missing and are found murdered, Violet takes it upon herself to find out who the serial killer is.

Along with the mystery comes some romance between her and Jay. It’s one of those “Best friends are in love with each other, but too clueless to do anything about it” things. Yeah, we have seen it before, but I found that it complimented the story well. Plus, Jay is the guy every girl should fall in love with. He isn’t the bad boy, or the kind that leads girls on. He’s genuine, sweet, and reasonably protective. I was getting so sick of reading YA fiction where a girl falls for the bad boy or someone that doesn’t exactly treat her right. Jay isn’t perfect. He has his moments where he does wrong, but he’s one of the more realistic love interests in today’s YA fiction.

The different spin on the dead connection is another thing the author, Kimberly Derting, does right. Instead of having Violet see creepy visions of the dead or hear the dead speak their last wishes, Derting gives Violet the power of finding the bodies through sounds, tastes, lights, etc. Violet gets these impulses that make her follow the sound or taste she senses until she finds the body of the unrest. Each body has its own identifier, a certain sound or taste, and whoever had a hand in their death gets an imprint of that identifier. Hence, Violet has the ability to find and track down the murderer.

The Body Finder is a great read. It’s perfectly paced; it had me reading from beginning to end almost non-stop. I was happy to find out that it’s the first of a series of Body Finder novels. The second book, Desires of the Dead, was released two days ago, and I can’t wait to go to the bookstore to pick it up.

You can purchase The Body Finder and its sequel, Desires of the Dead, at the TYF store. Click here to buy!