Reviews
Charlaine Harris's most popular series is the one starring Sookie Stackhouse. I've read some of the short stories from the series but don't want to commit to a long series of vampire mysteries. That said I'm still curious about Harris's popularity. I am borrowing from a friend the first three books of the Harper Connelly series. The first book is Grave Sight. Harper is a psychic. Her specific skill is seeing how people died. If that death involves murder she can often see the murderer's face. She travels from town to town with her brother (via marriage) taking assignments to help people find their loved ones. After quickly solving the case she has come to do she's lured into a year's old murder mystery. She doesn't want to take the case because she can already tell it's going to bring up uncomfortable memories and facts for everyone involved. I liked how the psychic elements were described. They seemed credible without being overbearing. The set up of the series was probably the best part of the book. Like Sookie, Harper tends to get a little more buddy-buddy than I like. Her relationship with her brother and business partner is necessary for the plot but its presentation is heavy-handed. The solution to the mystery was unfortunately pretty obvious.
I liked this series better than her Sookie series. I know sacrilege.
4 Stars for the Audiobook. Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan (5 Stars for narration). I liked her narration. Some reviewers on Audible did not care for her. I didn't hear the background noises they said they heard and were annoyed by it - that she makes a smacking sound, page turning, etc. I suspect they cleaned up the recording because I didn't hear any of this and the complaints were from 2013 and earlier. As for her narration, I thought it was very good. The series is first person narrative (I think, I'm never sure what all the terms mean), as told by Harper. Charlaine Harris is best known for her Sookie Sackhouse series that were made into the HBO Series, True Blood. This series is paranormal, but more along the line of cozy mysteries rather than Sookie's books that are dark, sexy, and filled with vampires and other paranormals. Harper Connelly is a 24 year old, who finds dead people (bodies) for a living. She travels with her manager, supporter, protector and step-brother, 27 yr old Tolliver Lang. Harper's mother married Tolliver's father. They met as teenagers and together as teens they basically raised their younger siblings because their parents were drug addicts. When Harper was 15 she was struck by lightning. As a result she has various physical ailments but the big one is that she can find dead bodies and see their last moments of their life. She is hired by people who are usually looking for a missing relative, whom they suspect is dead thus Harper gives them closure. In this book she and Tolliver are in a small Southern town. Harper was hired to find a teen girl who the authorities suspect may have been abducted or was a victim of a murder/suicide. She succeeds in finding the girl's body but the true nature of the crime is questioned. They are thrown into a murder investigation in which Harper's life is threatened and Tolliver is thrown in jail on bogus charges. Harper takes it upon herself to find the true story and killer if they are ever going to be able to leave this town. This was a re-read for me - I read the 4 book series when they came out in 2006-2009. I liked this series better than Sookie's series - but I love, love cozy mysteries. Most reviewers seem to give this series "its OK" reviews. But I suspect they were expecting stories like True Blood and this isn't True Blood. Oh, I what I found fascinating is the side effects that lightning survivors suffer from - medically and psychologically. Many doctors do not believe that the patients suffer long term effects. I'm assuming Harris did her homework. I'm also assuming that the vast majority do not become psychics or find dead people! On to book 2...
I read the second book in this series first, so I was glad to start from the beginning. I really like Charlaine Harris's heroines and she's one of the only writers I know who can make me laugh and bite my nails from the suspense!
This was the first book in the Harper Connelly series. Although I liked the main character Harper, I felt the rest of the characters were shallow and undeveloped. This made it difficult to become immersed in the story and only made the weak points (such as the sloppy editing) stand out more. However I did like the premise of the series and am hoping maybe the second book will be an improvement.
I am enjoying this series more than I thought. I accidentally read the 2nd book first, it did not detract from the enjoyment of this book.
Really good book. I love how Charlaine Harris keeps you in the dark about what really happened until the very last chapter. She does the same thing in her Sookie Stackhouse books which, I think, is what makes them such good reads. looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the Harper Connelly series.
