Review: The Sinner by Amanda Stevens

From the Back Cover:

I am a living ghost, a wanderer in search of my purpose and place…

I'm a cemetery restorer by trade, but my calling has evolved from that of ghost seer to death walker to detective of lost souls. I solve the riddles of the dead so the dead will leave me alone.

I've come to Seven Gates Cemetery nursing a broken heart, but peace is hard to come by…for the ghosts here and for me. When the body of a young woman is discovered in a caged grave, I know that I've been summoned for a reason. Only I can unmask her killer. I want to trust the detective assigned to the case for he is a ghost seer like me. But how can I put my faith in anyone when supernatural forces are manipulating my every thought? When reality is ever-changing? And when the one person I thought I could trust above all others has turned into a diabolical stranger?

My Thoughts:

She's baaack!

If you read my review of the previous book in this series, you know I was a little disappointed in it, especially after such a long hiatus between books. It was with trepidation that I went into this one, hoping for a return to the level of excellence set by the first three books. I am so happy to say that Amanda Stevens is back on top of her game! It's hard to review a mystery, let alone the fifth book in a series, without giving things away for those who have yet to discover the deliciousness that is the Graveyard Queen series, so my review will be brief and limited to my overall thoughts rather than a detailed plot recap.

While restoring another South Carolina cemetery, this one in a small, off-the-beaten path location, Amelia discovers a ring of caged graves outside hallowed ground, and there's a fresh body in one of them. When the ghost of the murdered young woman begins to haunt her, Amelia has no choice but to figure out who killed her and why if she ever wants any peace. And this brings a new man into Amelia's life, the sexy and mysterious investigator Lucien Kendrick, who seems to have a mystical connection to Amelia. Is he hiding the same secret she is, the ability to commune with spirits? Add to that the gruesome history of the house she's renting for the summer, mistrustful locals, and a horrifying darkness worse than any spirit Amelia has ever encountered before, not to mention that she's starting to have difficulty determining what's all in her head and what's real, who is manipulating her and who can she trust, and Amelia is in for one hell of a summer.

Plus Amelia is still missing John Devlin, whom she hasn't been with in over a year . . . or has she? She gets an emotional punch in the gut where he is concerned that I felt right along with Amelia. There are a lot of little clues dropped about Devlin here that I did not see coming, and if my suspicions are proved correct in the next book, I am going to be one happy camper, giving mad props to Amanda Stevens. But if they are not, I'm going to be one sad camper. Amelia deserves some happiness.

I could not put this down for the last quarter of the book. I don't know where Amanda Stevens finds all of this stuff, but it is fascinating. Caged graves, witch doctors, a cult devoted to resurrection, a secret society devoted to stamping out the supernatural, and all of it taking place amid the old world charm and haunting, Gothic beauty of the Low Country. I don't do horror, but Amanda Stevens manages to craft spine-tingling, macabre thrillers without the gore, and I just can't get enough of them. But alas, the next book is the final book in the series. And it is with a heavy yet hopeful heart that I am about to embark on the last chapter in Amelia Gray's story.

My Rating:  4.5 Stars out of 5

*Please Note: This review references an advance digital copy received from the publisher via NetGalley, and therefore the final published copy may differ. Though I received this book from the publisher, my review is voluntary and these are my honest and unbiased thoughts. I was not compensated in any other way for reviewing this book.