After a life-altering experience during a job away from home, graveyard restoration expert Amelia Gray is back in Charleston. She’s barely got her feet back under her now that she’s resumed her “regular” routine when she is approached by the ghost of a child, Shani, the daughter of Amelia’s love interest, John Devlin. Eager to reach the sanctuary of her own home, Amelia is startled and dismayed to find the ghost of Robert Fremont, a murdered police officer and former partner of John Devlin, waiting for her. Fremont wants Amelia to investigate his unsolved murder – he can’t “rest” until the guilty party is identified and arrested. Amelia knows that it more than breaks all of her rules to help him, but she’s drawn to the task and commits to help Fremont.

A chance meeting with Clementine Perilloux, a new neighbor and granddaughter of a local shop owner, puts Amelia in a position to investigate another aspect of Fremont’s death. Amelia knows that there are connections between John Devlin, the man she loves, and several other people and ghosts that swirl in and out of her life, but so many details remain unknown to her that she struggles to shed enough light on any crack in the case that will allow her to make progress. Ethan, Devlin, Shani, Fremont, Mariama, Isabel, Clementine…..the names churn through Amelia’s mind again and again, keeping her awake at night and distracted during the day.

Out of the blue, a request comes for Amelia to resume work on the Oak Grove Cemetery, a location that holds immeasurable horrific memories for her and the setting for the first book in this series. Amelia is grateful for the distraction of work, and is eager to complete the tasks she began, but she finds no peace in the hallowed location. Blackmail and black magic are both at play, and Amelia continually puts herself at risk to obtain the one bit of information that will tie up the loose ends that have plagued her. She wants nothing more than to be able to move on and have a life, hopefully with John Devlin by her side, but it would seem that all of the forces in the world, and those of the otherworld, are conspiring against her. Does she really want to know the answers to her questions? And if she does get answers, will she be able to bear the weight of that knowledge? Or will it break her?

From the use of local vernacular “haints, hags and plat eyes” to evocative descriptions of Amelia’s physical surroundings, author Amanda Stevens paints a delightfully unnerving portrait of root magic and Gullah traditions of the deep South. Readers will swear they can smell humidity in the air and feel a cold mist against their neck as Amelia’s persistence pays off and The Prophet draws to a conclusion. This is the third offering in Steven’s Graveyard Queen series, and although The Prophet reads well as a standalone novel, readers will benefit by reading the series in order. Eerie, lush and wonderfully plotted and paced, The Prophet is a terrific paranormal novel that will leave readers eager for the next Graveyard Queen novel.