A review by Clare Elaine
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting is a story of a young girl named Violet with a talent that is out of the ordinary. Violet is able to find dead bodies, or more accurately they are able to find her. Usually she finds small animals who have been killed in the hunt which is the circle of life, but when a serial killer starts dumping bodies of girls in her town Violet feels that she needs to help the police solve these crimes, and unintentionally puts herself in the danger surrounding the murders. As the mystery unfolds there are also the aspects of jealousy, romance, and drama that surrounds every teenagers life, giving the story a depth and realism that many stories these days are lacking. It is the imperfections in the characters personalities which draw the reader in and give them so much to relate to, even without our own super natural abilities.
While this book has become one of my favourites, it is probably not going to appeal to readers who are looking for a lot of gore and violence. There is very little focus on the killings or the killer, while the story is primarily revolved around Violet, her best friend Jay, and her parents, in the way that they react to and deal with what has been happening around them.
The Body Finder is a perfect book for a long trip on a train or plane where you have the opportunity to read without the interruptions of every day life because it is so hard to stop reading part way through. ‘Just one more page’ becomes ‘just one more chapter’ and as quickly as the book began it is over. This is definitely a book I would recommend to people looking for something new to read.
This article was previously published in Dark Matter issue 3, April 2011, and predated on this website to reflect the original publication date.
