Richard M. (algernon99) - , reviewed on 11/26/2007 + 418 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 12

I was so far down on the wish list for this book that I decided I'd just have to buy a copy--you know, pay actual money to read it. What a concept! (Luckily I had a $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com.)

So I bought it and read it the day after it arrived, since I didn't get to open the mail until after 10 pm that night. It reads quickly and is a lot of fun. Not funny, but entertaining in a thoughtful sort of way.

First, read #1 in the series. You absolutely must, before you tackle this one.

The thing that makes Charlaine Harris books so interesting and so believable is that she just adds one little fantasy element and then makes sure the rest of the story follows logically and inevitably from that one surreal premise. As we follow Harper Connelly around as she "reads" graves to discern who the occupant is how and how the unfortunate corpse died, everything seems normal. The woo-woo element is workaday routine rather than something to be held up and wondered at. I like that.

This story proceeds logically to its end. There was one side plot element introduced near the end that disturbed both me and my wife (she read the book the day after I did), but it is certainly a fair complication to enter the ongoing series story line. We just don't like it!

Anyway, if you can wait through the wish list, give this one a read. It's quite enjoyable.

And, yes, we put our copy into the mail to another PBSer on the third day after it arrived.

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