attempting obscurity

I'm not normally one for mysteries or ghost stories, but this was offered through the B&N Nook Daily Deals for something like $1.99, and most reviews gave it 5 stars. So I figured I'd try it out.Well, I loved it. Stevens writes with this really intense, evocative style. I had one teeny complaint -- detailed below -- but otherwise was thoroughly captivated by her writing. It was well paced and interesting. Her protagonist, Amelia, is very relatable and practical. I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was before the big reveal, but the motivation was a surprise. I'm also interested more about how ghosts interact and affect the world -- Stevens dropped some very intriguing hints, but didn't go into too much depth (partly because of Amelia's limitations in knowledge, I assume). Overall, I quite enjoyed it except for one teeny tiny caveat.Basically, every time Amelia visibly reacted to something -- or was disturbed by her intense reaction to something -- Stevens would remind us that this was unusual for Amelia. She would re-detail how Amelia has learned to school her emotions and reactions at a young age and why, and stress (over and over) that her overt reactions were extremely out of character. Personally, I felt like she hammered home a little too much how Amelia is schooled at hiding her expressions and any deviation (ie, showing expression) was unusual for her. By like the 5th time, I was thinking, "Okay, we got it. You keep telling us that although she's visibly reacting and has been throughout the book, this is actually really unusual for her."Then again, I understand why. I'm reading the second book now, and (at least in these first few chapters) Amelia actually does seem better at schooling her emotions in a less personally shocking setting. So I guess Stevens just wanted to keep reminding us because Amelia was pretty on edge in the first book -- but then, we'd been introduced to her at an unusual time in her life. So, to sum up -- characterization, plotting, pace, and style are all great. Stevens has a lovely voice and is very talented. While I don't generally like mysteries, I like this protagonist and the writing style well enough that I bought the second book in the series at full price. I recommend this series to fans of Dean Koontz, or people who like paranormal stories (like the Evernight series).