SOLVED. Looking for book about a boy whose friends are ghosts in a graveyard and who tries to solve a local girl's murder. [s]

[Sarah]

YA paranormal mystery fiction. 1990's or 2000's publication probably. Middle/High schooler range.

Was about this boy that could hear ghosts and hung around in a graveyard (and had ghost friends, the best one a young girl), and then one day a girl got murdered (view spoiler)[by a police officer who then tried to hack her body up (but couldn’t) and bury it in a recently filled grave? (hide spoiler)] He tries to find out what happened to her.

There was also cop who was trying to sort everything out, and was trying to coax a drug junkie CI into giving him witness information, but the junkie was super scared, even though he made friends with the cop and some other tenant guy at the end?

At the end the kid finally stops giving a crap about the police telling him not to interfere with the case (view spoiler)[so he just goes to dig up the girl’s body at the end because her ghost has been telling him the whole time that she was buried there? (hide spoiler)]

[Jay]

Hi - I was having a look through the 'unsolved' lists, to see if I can help anyone find their book, as someone has just solved a book mystery for me! - and this description leapt out at me as familiar.

It sounds like The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - to be honest I can't recall the full story but it concerned a young boy, friendships with ghosts in a graveyard and a villain called The Man Jack. Could this be your book?

Cheers!

[Kris]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - Jay's suggestion

[Angela]

What about Dead Connection by Charlie Price?

[Sarah]

Yes! It was Dead Connection. (I've had issues finding it because all my searches turned up with that Gaimen book instead lol) Thank you!!