Writ on Water [Mass Market Paperback]

The year is 1998 and funerary art is the new chic, spurring a rise in graveyard robberies from New Orleans to Boston. Perhaps her upcoming assignment for Digital Memories had been the reason for Chloe Smith's horrific nightmare. Was the malevolent cemetery a vision of what was to come? Her grandmother, a mean spirited witch who had frightened Chloe since she was small, had always insisted that she had inherited "the sight".

Chloe's new assignment is to photograph the Patrick family cemetery at Riverview Plantation in Virginia. The photographs are to be entered into the national database in the event that theft should occur. Her first run in with the client's son Rory is less than genial. The client, MacGregor Patrick, however is charming if a bit obsessive about the family burial ground and his son's love life. He's determined to throw the two together.

The family cemetery holds no terrors for Chloe and she actually begins to enjoy her assignment. The monuments are a testament to old money and the finest art it could buy. Rory however would like to see the whole thing become taken over by the vegetation that would soon claim it if left untended. His father had not been the same since his mother had died. Rory views the old man's obsession as unhealthy. Still he assists Chloe when his own work at the reknowned Patrick Botanics allows. The attraction between them is undeniable.

The dreams begin anew when Rory's ne'er do well cousin Claude decides to pay the family a visit bringing along a friend who gives Chloe chills. Never before has she seen such malevolence in a man's eyes. She is sure she has looked into the face of evil and is stunned that no one else seems to notice. Thankfully the men are gone as abruptly as they had appeared.

All is well until she follows the family cat into the second graveyard - the unkempt, sad and uninviting slave burial ground that Chloe had been instinctively avoiding. A murder has been committed. Chloe has photographs that could help the police solve the case. It's clear that the Patricks are hiding something. Chloe must now decide whether to betray their trust and lose the affection of the two men she has come to love or listen to her heart. Can the truth and justice be two different things?

Wow, talk about a psychological paranormal thriller! Chloe's dilemma becomes one's own as the reader must decide whether or not she's done the right thing after all. -- Reviewed for PNR Reviews

Okay, I like Jackson. She is always doing something different. She doesn't follow the herd. I loved the Goblins, what a howl. I wish that series hadn't ended. This time she is doing Gothic that is pure Goth. Take one heroine with a 'gift' of sight, and no idea what it means or how to control it, one really spooky graveyard, and one mean wicked granny, you have the makings of a super tale.

Choe has always feel different, alone, not normal, until she meets Rory Patrick. They shoot sparks off each other, but he doesn't really trust her too much. On the other hand, Rory is connect to her nightmares, so she is not too sure about him either. A murder happens (doesn't it generally in these sorts of stories) and naturally it points at Rory...so who do you trust?

Jackson delivers a delightfully spooky read, with a firm understanding of Gothic romances. Hope she does more in this style.

But couldn't we please have another Goblin, Ms. Jackson?

Ok, I really need to stop reading Melanie Jackson books at night. For one, I can't put them down until I am finished and I end up reading all night long. Another thing, I am usually so spooked by the time that I finish them, I can't really sleep anyway. But what a ride!!! Melanie Jackson sets up a fantastic Gothic atmosphere. I felt as if I were pushing away the silken cobwebs away with Chloe as she walked through the graveyard. My heart was wildly beating as she found something truly sinister. I don't want to give away anything, but this is the paranormal suspense romance for the spring.