The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

3 stars -- Meh...

I'm not sure if I'm being overly generous by giving this book three stars or not. It might only deserve two stars, but I think because the writing was decent, I'll stick with three stars. I will say, "Shame on you, HarperCollins. Start publishing higher-quality books!" (I find I am most frequently disappointed by Harper's books... they have so much promise, such beautiful covers and copy, and then they just go flat. Good marketing and upsell; bad manuscripts [or perhaps editing].)

The Body Finder is about Violet, who can sense the bodies of murdered victims. The majority of her life, it's been dead animals that were killed by other animals, but when she was eight years old, she found a girl. And now, years later, she's finding more.

I really like serial-killer-type books/shows. I loved Profiler when I was younger, and I adore Dexter despite its terrible acting. I'm fascinated by Wikipedia entries about serial killers. I really like the suspense that can be played up and the peeks granted into a psychopath's mind. I was really looking forward to reading this novel!

Unfortunately, it seems like the main storyline is actually, "Will Violet and Jay get together?" rather than the serial killer. Which, of course, duh. Readers can see it from chapter one, and Violet's angstiness is annoying. But I guess when one reads YA, one should expect angstiness...?

So without giving everything away (except, apparently, the main plot), the book is engagingly written. I was able to believe the characters even when they got on my nerves; there's a nice love story, which is now and then interrupted by murders. So although there's nothing deep or mind-grabbing that would make me pick this book up again, it's not the worst thing in the world to read. I just wish there had been more focus on Violet's actual abilities and the interplay between her and the serial killer (more suspense, I suppose), and less focus on Violet and Jay (less lust, I think).

Also, hide the mystery better. I hate it when I know the end of the book before I'm even through the first couple chapters.