Lonely Planet Kyoto
Lonely Planet and Chris Rowthorn
Book
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Kyoto is your passport to...
Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur
Lonely Planet, Nicola Williams, Alexis Averbuck and Oliver Berry
Book
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur...
An American Harvest: How One Family Moved from Dirt-Poor Farming to A Better Life in the Early 1900s
Book
Green Writers Press is proud to announce the first book in our place-based history series, An...
The History of Wine in 100 Bottles: From Bacchus to Bordeaux and Beyond
Book
Winemaking is as old as civilization itself and wine has always been more than just a drink. For...
Geopolitics and Development
Book
The focus of the book is both historical and contemporary, exploring the geopolitical enframing and...
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Jan 12, 2021
Astronomer's Friend -Night Sky
Weather and Reference
App
Astronomer's Friend has the best night sky tools for astronomy and astrophotography. Alerts for...
Aves de Argentina y Uruguay
Catalogs and Travel
App
Identify any bird with the new Argentina & Uruguay Birding Field Guide mobile app, from Tito Narosky...
RocketMan Transit App
Navigation and Lifestyle
App
RocketMan recognizes public transit stops and bike sharing stations around you. Tap the bus or train...
Cyn Armistead (14 KP) rated Grave Secret (Harper Connelly, #4) in Books
Mar 1, 2018
The Harper Connelly series hasn't ever been as strong as the Southern Vampire series, in my opinion, but it wasn't too bad in comparison to some of her earlier work, like the Aurora Teagarden and Shakespeare mysteries. She seemed to be experimenting with something darker this time around. I haven't looked at the Amazon rank or any other figures for the series, but it's my gut feeling that they never took off in comparison to the Sookie Stackhouse series, especially since True Blood has gotten so much attention with the television series. I have to wonder what that feels like for Ms. Harris, as this really was a decent concept with some promise, and it doesn't seem to have been given that much of a chance to blossom.
In any case, Harper and her brother are prickly characters and not very easy to relate to, and they don't get any easier in this book. They are back in their home town, and we get to now a lot more about their origins this time around. We finally get the whole story about their missing sister, and we meet the two little sisters who live with an aunt and uncle.
The portrayal of the devout blue-collar people with their working-man's faith is absolutely smack on. I came from those people, and I could taste the sweet tea and see the linoleum and the absolutely clean Formica dinette, feel the cracked chairs the characters sat on and look around at the carefully kept house. Harris did a great job with that town and those people, so much so that I'm sure she either came from a similar place or has spent plenty of time in one.
There isn't as much new magic/plot stuff as there are answers this time. The sexy gypsy boy-almost-man is back, to my delight. Harper's love interest is still a bit of a squick, but I suppose it makes sense for the characters. I have to wonder how many authors would stick with that kind of decision, knowing the backlash they'd get from their readers?
If you've read the other Harper Connelly books, read this one for closure. If you haven't, this isn't the place to start!