Grave Secret (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 4)
by Charlaine Harris is (as you might can guess from that link) the fourth book in the Harper Connelly series. Despite being on the fence about it, I managed to read it all in one night so perhaps I enjoyed it more than I think.Harper has the unique ability to see a person's last moments when in close proximity to their remains. She's gone to Texas to visit her little sisters and while there manages to stir up some trouble by "seeing" something that wasn't meant to be public knowledge. There are threats to her life and when her partner Tolliver is injured they are unable to just leave town (as they would prefer.) While there, they visit both their younger half-sisters and Tolliver's older brother and father. There is a second storyline about Harper's missing sister Cameron, which plays out rather nicely.
If you're reading this series you know that something vaguely creepy happened in the last installment (An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly Mysteries, No. 3)
) that seemed to resolve itself ok. In this one, it comes up again and again and while the talking about it makes it less creepy, the display of it was still wierd. (And yes, this is vague, other readers know what I'm talking about though.)I'm really on the fence about this one. I don't think the writing is as tight as the Sookie Stackhouse books (Sookie Stackhouse, Books 1-7
) also by Charlaine Harris. I found several plot points to be completely useless information that added nothing to the story. The family dynamics are awkward as well (see previous paragraph) and it makes me wonder where Harris is going- does she want them to have family or to be complete loners? I loved seeing Manfred again and kinda wish he had his own series, and still enjoy the premise of Harpers ability. It seems likely that I'll continue with the series, but it's definitely not a favorite.You can find Charlaine Harris on the web here, and be sure to visit her blog where she recommends great books to her readers.
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
Berkley Hardcover
2009
320 pages
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Hmmm - interesting skill! Sounds like a good read though - thanks for your honest review.
ReplyDeleteHannah
I haven't read this series yet, but I recently read Charlaine Harris' Lily Bard Mystery series (her Shakespeare books) and I loved them. Even though Grave Secret isn't a favorite, do you recommend the Harper Connelly series as a whole?
ReplyDeleteI loved this series .... however, I'm pretty sure that the fourth book was the last one that Ms. Harris is planning on doing in this series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the "warning". :)
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling much, much better.
The paranormal books just haven't grabbed me yet. I've read one Sookie book and haven't felt compelled to pick up another one.
ReplyDeleteI like paranormal,sometimes,thanks, I might try this one.
ReplyDeleteI keep wandering if I should read this series. It's apparently in stock at the library near where N works, but I've given him a list of books to check out and he always says he's too busy :( He probably is. Still. One of these days.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this series. I loved the Sookie series too, but I just felt like Harper was more mature and down-to-earth than Sookie. I haven't read her other mystery series, but I do think she has a great way of tying up the loose ends and having (somewhat) plausible explanations for what's happened.
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