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.
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.
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.
The big thing you need to know about An Ice Cold Grave, the third book in Charlaine Harris' Harper Connelly series, is that it's surprisingly free of drama. Not plot drama, mind you; there's plenty of that. No, the drama it's surprisingly free of is the personal sort surrounding Harper. Even though things related to the current case she and her long-time companion Tolliver are investigating explode significantly around them both, there's very little drama focused on Harper herself.
We've had two books now of people reacting strangely to her abilities--and there's none of that here. In fact, an entire town pretty much takes her as a messenger from God (albeit a strange one). But that's almost dwarfed by the even more surprising lack of drama surrounding the advancement of her relationship with Tolliver, of which I will say no more except to underscore that if you've been following …
The big thing you need to know about An Ice Cold Grave, the third book in Charlaine Harris' Harper Connelly series, is that it's surprisingly free of drama. Not plot drama, mind you; there's plenty of that. No, the drama it's surprisingly free of is the personal sort surrounding Harper. Even though things related to the current case she and her long-time companion Tolliver are investigating explode significantly around them both, there's very little drama focused on Harper herself.
We've had two books now of people reacting strangely to her abilities--and there's none of that here. In fact, an entire town pretty much takes her as a messenger from God (albeit a strange one). But that's almost dwarfed by the even more surprising lack of drama surrounding the advancement of her relationship with Tolliver, of which I will say no more except to underscore that if you've been following this series since Book 1, what happens won't be a surprise.
It's almost a relief, really, not only for Harper but also for the reader. A different book might have tried to cram more personal conflict into these side plots. This one, however, kept them pretty stable and angst-free. It works, given that the A plot in this book is a massive mountain of angst all by itself and really doesn't need side issues to compete with it.
Boys have been disappearing in the town of Doraville, and the grandmother of one of the lost youths has called Harper and Tolliver in to try to find him. Harper does, but to the dismay of the entire town, soon learns that all of the boys they've previously thought to be runaways are the victims of a serial killer. And Harper and Tolliver are embroiled far longer than they'd like in the process of unraveling these crimes when Harper herself is put in danger.
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.
