Dead Connection by Charlie Price

Murray can talk to the dead.  Not all the dead, not even all of those buried in the cemetery he visits almost daily.  But he can talk to a lot of them, and he knows all their stories.  However, there is a new voice calling out to him and he can't figure out who it is.  She's asking for help, and Murray has a strong suspicion that it's Nikki, a cheerleader from his high school who disappeared.  But who would believe him?  Pearl, the gravedigger's daughter, certainly doesn't-- at least not at first. 
Dead Connection is Charlie Price's first book, and while the story has an interesting hook, it reads like something brought out of a weekend writing workshop and rehashed until publishable.  The story is choppy as it bounces from character to character, and while it held my interest, I didn't find it as fast-paced as many other YA novels of the same genre.  It was a 2008 Missouri Gateway Reader's Award nominee, and it attracted some interest with students, especially those looking for something creepy but not especially scary.