Book Review: Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris

By Sandy Amazeen Sep 17, 2006, 19:20 GMT

In this second installment to Harris\'s new supernatural mystery series, Grave Sight\'s Harper Connelly is back, and her ability to find the dead and see their last moments is in higher demand than ever. ...more

Harper Connelly returns in the second installment of a refreshing supernatural mystery series begun with “Grave Sight.” Surviving a lightening strike left Harper with several side effects including spider webbing tattoos, a weakened leg and the ability to find and connect with corpses. It is a rare, taxing gift that with the aid of her brother Tolliver has been cultivated into a growing business. When Bingham College professor Clyde Nunley invited Harper to do a cemetery reading, he was certain she was a fraud he could easily see discredited. What he got was decidedly different, as Harper not only correctly identified the grave occupants he indicated but discovered the remains of a missing child.

Previously Harper had failed in attempts to locate the remains of an eleven-year-old girl at the family’s request. It was just too big a coincidence to be hired to read an old cemetery and discover the body of that very same child. Clearly, someone had set Harper or Tolliver up but for what purpose? When another body is discovered in the same, now well-used grave, Harper and Tolliver have no choice but to try to locate the killer before the police begin trying to pin the murders on them.

Complex family and personal issues creates a nice layer of depth while the touch of supernatural keeps things interesting in this steady, though not particularly fast paced murder mystery. Some quirky new characters are introduced that hopefully, readers will be seeing more of as Harris continues to shape Harper into a force to be reckoned with.