Helpful Score: 26
What an interesting story! Harper Connelly, after being hit by lightning as a teenager, has the ability, when in the physical presence of a dead body, to communicate with it and see the cause of death. Usually she can also sense the name. She can "feel" the presence of bodies and is called in when they know generally where a body might be. She can usually find it. She can walk through a graveyard, pause at each grave, and recite the cause of death and the name of the person there interred. Amazing stuff.
What makes the book so interesting to me is that as we go along with the character, the ability is not amazing or fantastic or anything like that--it's just a workaday, normal reality for her. She goes from job to job--people hire her to either find bodies or determine causes of death--just doing what she knows how to do. It takes a talented author to sell such a thing, to make it believable and normal, which Charlaine Harris certainly does.
Of course, there are complications in some cases, and this book is about one such. Things don't add up as she finds bodies and causes of death, which are not what the local authorities and the people who hired her expected.
I can't wait for the next book in the series. I like Harris' Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, too, but this isn't just frivolous frippery like those books. There is meat here.
Added later: My wife just finished the book; she, too, gives it a very positive review: "Loved it!"
What makes the book so interesting to me is that as we go along with the character, the ability is not amazing or fantastic or anything like that--it's just a workaday, normal reality for her. She goes from job to job--people hire her to either find bodies or determine causes of death--just doing what she knows how to do. It takes a talented author to sell such a thing, to make it believable and normal, which Charlaine Harris certainly does.
Of course, there are complications in some cases, and this book is about one such. Things don't add up as she finds bodies and causes of death, which are not what the local authorities and the people who hired her expected.
I can't wait for the next book in the series. I like Harris' Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, too, but this isn't just frivolous frippery like those books. There is meat here.
Added later: My wife just finished the book; she, too, gives it a very positive review: "Loved it!"
Helpful Score: 10
Book #1 of a new series featuring Harper, a 20-something woman who can find people who have died and mentally relive the last few moments of their life through their eyes.
Harper and her step-brother/traveling companion both have a no-nonsense approach to her abilities and what is necessary to make her skills minimally socially acceptable. They also exhibit a dry wit and talent for understatement that makes for entertaining reading.
A good mystery with dry humor and likeable characters. I think that I will like this series even better than the Sookie Stackhouse books.
Harper and her step-brother/traveling companion both have a no-nonsense approach to her abilities and what is necessary to make her skills minimally socially acceptable. They also exhibit a dry wit and talent for understatement that makes for entertaining reading.
A good mystery with dry humor and likeable characters. I think that I will like this series even better than the Sookie Stackhouse books.
Charlie M. (bookaddicted) - , reviewed Grave Sight (Harper Connelly, Bk 1) on + 131 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
With elements of a cozy but, darker and with a paranormal twist this is a fast paced read. Harper Connelly has the ability to find the dead and see what caused their death after being struck by lightning as a teen. She is called to Arkansas to find a missing teen and opens a snake pit of buried secrets.
Helpful Score: 5
What an interesting story! Harper Connelly, after being hit by lightning as a teenager, has the ability, when in the physical presence of a dead body, to communicate with it and see the cause of death. Usually she can also sense the name. She can "feel" the presence of bodies and is called in when they know generally where a body might be. She can usually find it. She can walk through a graveyard, pause at each grave, and recite the cause of death and the name of the person there interred. Amazing stuff.
What makes the book so interesting to me is that as we go along with the character, the ability is not amazing or fantastic or anything like that--it's just a workaday, normal reality for her. She goes from job to job--people hire her to either find bodies or determine causes of death--just doing what she knows how to do. It takes a talented author to sell such a thing, to make it believable and normal, which Charlaine Harris certainly does.
Of course, there are complications in some cases, and this book is about one such. Things don't add up as she finds bodies and causes of death, which are not what the local authorities and the people who hired expected.
I can't wait for the next book in the series. I like Harris' Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, too, but this isn't just frivolous frippery like those books. There is meat here.
What makes the book so interesting to me is that as we go along with the character, the ability is not amazing or fantastic or anything like that--it's just a workaday, normal reality for her. She goes from job to job--people hire her to either find bodies or determine causes of death--just doing what she knows how to do. It takes a talented author to sell such a thing, to make it believable and normal, which Charlaine Harris certainly does.
Of course, there are complications in some cases, and this book is about one such. Things don't add up as she finds bodies and causes of death, which are not what the local authorities and the people who hired expected.
I can't wait for the next book in the series. I like Harris' Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, too, but this isn't just frivolous frippery like those books. There is meat here.
Helpful Score: 3
I was enticed to read Grave Sight because I adore author Charlaine Harris' better-known Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, and hoped the fun might extend into Harris' new heroine, Harper Connelly. I don't seek out mysteries as a general rule, but I like Harris' characters and flip dialogue so much, I thought I'd give it a try.
I wasn't disappointed, but I didn't love it as much as her other series. Harper Connelly is a unique kind of private investigator -- after being struck by lightning as a teenager, she can now sense the location of dead bodies and see their last moments on earth. Her first adventure takes place in a small Ozark town where a young girl has been murdered, and the strange tale of her demise. Of course, since its a mystery, lots of twists and turns abound.
It's fun stuff, but I didn't leave the book with the "gotta get my hands on the next installment" feeling that I felt when Sookie's story was over. I will be seeking out Grave Suprise (book 2) but I don't have to make a special trip to Borders today to track it down in a frenzy.
I wasn't disappointed, but I didn't love it as much as her other series. Harper Connelly is a unique kind of private investigator -- after being struck by lightning as a teenager, she can now sense the location of dead bodies and see their last moments on earth. Her first adventure takes place in a small Ozark town where a young girl has been murdered, and the strange tale of her demise. Of course, since its a mystery, lots of twists and turns abound.
It's fun stuff, but I didn't leave the book with the "gotta get my hands on the next installment" feeling that I felt when Sookie's story was over. I will be seeking out Grave Suprise (book 2) but I don't have to make a special trip to Borders today to track it down in a frenzy.