Book Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 
Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton
Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

My Thoughts:  Mystery, murder, supernatural abilities and a hot romance...what more could you ask for?  I enjoyed this book immensely! 

Violet can find the dead, whether it be dead animals or dead people, but only those that have been murdered.  She sees, hears or tastes an "echo" that tells her where the dead are buried (this "echo" also happens to linger on the killers).  This little trick happens to come in handy once girls start going missing in her town.  Violet sets out to find the killer and put him away for good.

I thought Violet's ability was spooky all the way around.  How bad would it be to be able to literally sniff out the dead?  When the book first begins, Violet is 8 years old and finds her first dead human body.  Then, fastforward about 8 years and Violet is a teenager getting ready for the first day of school.  This is where Jay comes in.  Jay is Violet's best friend and has been since they were little but just recently Violet has noticed how much Jay has changed and how much the other girls at school are noticing him as well. 

One afternoon while hanging out with friends, Violet discovers another body.  This is where things start to get interesting.  When another girl goes missing, Violet decides she is going to try to find the killer, with Jay's help, of course.

I love Jay and Violet's relationship!  It was realistic and while there was a slight romantic triangle, it wasn't the same old "two boys in love with one girl who doesn't know which one to pick" scenario.  I could actually feel Violet's confusion of falling for her best friend and the frusterations when she wasn't sure if he returned her feelings.  I love how protective Jay was of Violet without being too mushy and romantic.  He is someone that every teenage girl wants to be real!

And finally!  A heroine that isn't just plain stupid!  I was so glad that Violet didn't intentionally go out and seek danger and trouble.  Even when she decided to go "hunt down" the killer, she was smart about not doing it alone or in secluded areas.  She was smart all the way until the end of the book where she did have a slight "duh...now is not the time to be alone" moment but otherwise I enjoyed the fact that she cared about staying alive and was appropriately scared when her life was in danger. 

The murder mystery lacked a little.  I like to have people that I can suspect and there weren't a whole lot in this book.  There were brief moments when I would suspect a character and then throw it out a few pages later.  Maybe that is the point though...to keep you up in the air the whole time.

I did like how every few chapters you took on the view of the "killer".  That kept it interesting and even a little creepy.  Otherwise, it was written in the third person point of view.  Not my favorite POV but this book made it work exceptionally well for me!

I still have some questions left that I hope will be resolved in the next book, Desires of the Dead, which I cannot wait to get my hands on!