I found this book to be a bit predictable but it was still a great read. The story flows really well just like I have come to expect from Charlaine Harris. One more book in the series to go, can't wait to get on with it.
Harris is better known for her Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire books, but she has several series. This is the one with the young woman, Harper Connelly, who can sense dead bodies, even if they are buried underground, and who can read their last moments. She works as the psychic brought in, usually by the family, when someone is missing. There's lots of unhappy family backstory and current life challenges, plus the mystery that she's currently working on. I do recommend reading them in order -- this is the 3rd.
This review contains minor spoilers which will not be a surprise to alert readers of the preceding two novels.
I like Harper, and she has a nice narrative voice, which I enjoy reading. The mystery is only moderately gripping, but all of the assorted Mrs. Whites and Colonel Mustards are well characterized, and interesting. I'd rate this as a pleasant way to pass the time.
In this, the third book, the quasi-incestuous pairing of Tolliver/Harper which Harris has been hinting at for the previous two novels is finally realized. It's probably a harsh criticism, considering Harris occupies a niche as a romance-mystery writer, but this was easily the least interesting piece of the book. Her sex scenes are, frankly, boring, and don't seem to serve much of a function within the book other than demonstrating that sex has happened. The coy flirtations and dirty jokes that probably seem quite witty …
This review contains minor spoilers which will not be a surprise to alert readers of the preceding two novels.
I like Harper, and she has a nice narrative voice, which I enjoy reading. The mystery is only moderately gripping, but all of the assorted Mrs. Whites and Colonel Mustards are well characterized, and interesting. I'd rate this as a pleasant way to pass the time.
In this, the third book, the quasi-incestuous pairing of Tolliver/Harper which Harris has been hinting at for the previous two novels is finally realized. It's probably a harsh criticism, considering Harris occupies a niche as a romance-mystery writer, but this was easily the least interesting piece of the book. Her sex scenes are, frankly, boring, and don't seem to serve much of a function within the book other than demonstrating that sex has happened. The coy flirtations and dirty jokes that probably seem quite witty if one is getting laid at the time just seem incredibly lame, and the actual sexual mechanics are detailed enough that one can tell which sex-act took place, but have a rather mechanical feel. Honestly, I could have read the same book with all the smut taken out and replaced with a coy ellipsis.
