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Grave Sight - new series (2008-11-19)
this is the first in the new series from C Harris. I have to say I didn't really like this one. I had it figured out half way through the book. But I did order all 3 in the series and enjoyed the second one very much. I fell that the characters and premise for this series is brilliant, just needs to keep within the Harris style of wit and sexual innuendo. I just started the third - Ice Cold Grave- and I'm moving right along with it. I believe I will like this one also.
Keep um coming, Charlene!

great beginning to the series (2008-11-18)
I picked up Grave sight because I LOVE Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series. I really enjoyed Grave sight and the concept of finding dead bodies. Scary concept, but the way Charlaine writes, totally believable. I was happy to find it was more of a mystery then the vampire series. It has the super natural, but more down to earth then the shape shifters, vampires, warewolves and other very interesting characters in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I really love the characters in the Harper Connelly mysteries. I just started on Grave Surprise and am enjoying the 2nd book even more. I'm pretty sure I will be making my way thru all of Charlaine Harris' Books. She's a wonderful writter and her books are filled with wit and charm. I look forward to reading every word she puts on paper.

A Writer's Perspective (2008-10-21)
The first thing I will say is that the premise is really very interesting. The main character, Harper Connelly, was struck by lightning when she was a teenager and now has the ability to sense where corpses are and, upon getting close enough, witness their final moments. A horrid poverty-stricken past and lack of marketable skills leads Harper to turn this strange ability into a job, with her stepbrother Tolliver coming along to act as bodyguard, support, companionship, and someone to run the check to the bank to keep the person who hired Harper from changing his or her mind about paying. (Apparently many people don't like being told how their loved ones died, despite hiring Harper to find out; the book includes a scene with an old woman who is firmly convinced her husband was killed by his ex-wife and nearly becomes hysterical when Harper informs her that the cat did it.)

This lifestyle requires Harper and Tolliver to be almost constantly on the move, especially since Harper has a "get in, find body, get out" mentality. However, when they are called to the town of Sarne to find the body of a teenaged girl, Teenie, things are a bit more difficult than usual. Teenie's been missing for over six months, and many assume her body is somewhere in the woods near where her boyfriend was found shot. The boyfriend's mother wants to clear up the town rumor that the boy killed his Teenie and then shot himself. But when Harper finds the body and tells everyone that Teenie was definitely murdered, and almost certainly not by her boyfriend, she and her brother find themselves in danger.

I did a bit of searching before starting to write this, and I was quite surprised to find out that, while this is the first book of the Harper Connelly mysteries, Charlaine Harris was already a well-established author when it was published. The plot line is rather a good one, but the writing seems rather amateur to me. For example, this paragraph: "Tolliver tossed down the aged magazine he'd been riffling through. He pushed himself up from the fake-leather chair. Tolliver's twenty-seven. His mustache has a reddish cast; otherwise, his hair is as black as mine" (Grave Sight pg. 5). First of all, that description of Tolliver's hair color comes out of nowhere, even when read with the rest of the page, and it goes nowhere. We get two sentences about hair color and then back to the plot. It's sudden and unnecessary. Secondly, this paragraph has is but one example of the flow problems that pop up here and there throughout the whole book. Notice that the first three sentences have no pauses and are all rather short. This similarity between them disrupts flow and can knock a reader out of the book, which is what happened to me several times. Very few things annoy me as much as being distracted while trying to read a good book, especially when the distraction is a problem with the book itself.

Even with that, however, this is definitely on my Recommended list. The plot is engaging, the characters are interesting (though a couple of the minor ones are a bit flat), and I love the talent that Harper has.

Does include profanity and one slightly descriptive sex scene.

(this review can also be seen at http://rompwithjoy.blogspot.com/2008/10/writers-perspective-grave-sight-by.html)

Grave Sight (2008-09-08)
The first in the Harper Connelly series, this is a quick, intelligent, fun read. Harper has been struck by lightning and because of it, she can find dead bodies. An interesting line of work leads her into a mess in the small town of Sarne where she's been hired. Along with her step brother Tolliver, Harper sets out to find a body and ends up nearly getting herself killed.

Like many of Charlaine Harris' stories, this one is packed with funny characters, an interesting story plot and it's fair share of dry humor. Makes me want to read more in the series.

A Great New Mystery Series - She Finds Dead People (2008-09-01)
A Grave Sight is a well-written mystery that surrounds a young woman, Harper Connelly, who has special powers in discerning the location of dead bodies as well as the cause of death. Harper gained these powers after being struck by lightening. She is aided in her pursuits by her stepbrother, Tolliver Lang, who extends empathy and support as needed.

The story of individuals who live through being struck by lightening is such an interesting topic; I had been unaware of the impact such an event can have on an individual. I found the mystery of the murders in this story to be well concealed in that I was not sure who the perpetrator(s) were until very close to the end. There are no red herrings; more like a large list of equally culpable suspects. It is much fun to read. Only one small complaint - the story could have used just a little bit of comic relief, macabre though it might have been, to lighten the grim load that Harper and Tolliver carry and the storyline in general.

I am looking forward to Book 2 in the series, A Grave Surprise.