The cemetery I know best is Forest Grove. I spend most of my time there. That's where most of my friends are ...The ones my age and the children, they almost all need someone to talk to. They weren't ready. They'll tell you that. Murray doesn't have many friends at school. A quiet loner with a troubled family life, he spends all his time down at Forest Grove cemetery, speaking to the dead and listening to their stories. When he hears a terrified new voice pleading for help, Murray is convinced it is Nikki, a popular young cheerleader who went missing over a month ago - but who will believe him? And where is the body? Together with Pearl, the daughter of the cemetery groundskeeper, Murray must struggle to uncover the truth in a town full of secrets.

Asuperb debut novel ... Readers will find themselves rooting for these characters Publishers Weekly Readers will like the edginess and be intrigued by the extrasensory elements, as well as the darker turns the mystery takes. This is something different -- Ilene Cooper Booklist A smart, funny, very clever page turner; unique and fun to read. As much as I wanted the mystery solved, I didn't want it to end. You're going to like this book -- Chris Crutcher, author of King of the Mild Frontier and Whale Talk This will be an easy sell to mystery readers, and will have lots of appeal to those familiar with that genre only through television or movies -- Francisca Goldsmith Price's background in mental health and education is prevalent in the sections where he elicits sympathy for the mentally ill and the loners in society The School Librarian

Raised in Colorado and Montana, Charlie graduated from Stanford in the early 60's and has lived in Italy, New York City, Oakland and Mexico, before settling on a river in Northern California. In addition to writing and working with therapeutic groups, Charlie is a trainer, an executive coach, and a consultant who conducts business workshops and troubleshoots for private and public agencies. He is married with one grown-up daughter, and is an avid reader, a decent guitar player, a pretty fair free-throw shooter, and a hopelessly addicted fisherman.