Harper Connelly Series by Charlaine Harris

Ms Harris has me hooked. I love her Southern Vampire series and now I am hooked on her Harper Connelly series. what is fascinating is that the series are completely different, not just in theme but also in the author's voice. Harper is not as light hearted as Sookie is, she has a more skeptical view of the world, a bit more darker, which in turn makes the books more solemn but just as delicious!

Grave Sight (B) : The first book took me a bit to get into but after I got to know Harper and her step brother, Tolliver Lang, I was off and running. Harper and Tolliver come from a messed up home. His Father hooked up with Harper's mom and their efforts to keep the so-called family together united them in a cause. Harper's mom was a alcoholic/drug addict and her father was sent to jail for one thing or another. Harper was struck by lightning when she was a teenager and as a side effect of that experience she has the ability to sense the dead. she does not speak to the dead but can sense when death is near by which allows her to easily find dead bodies. She can also determine the cause of the death by getting a glimpse of the final moments of the victims life. This final quirk comes in handy when Harper is brought in to find the body of a teenager who was suppose to be the second half of a murder-suicide. When Harper find the body of the young girl she knows it's murder but when she stands on the boy's grave it's clear to her that he also was murdered and did NOT commit suicide. This opens up a can of worms because now there is an unsolved murder on the books. The Sheriff of the little town has no problems with this since the girl found was his sister in law. His wife also died several years ago, but he suspects foul play in that death as well (which Harper confirms) and is determined to find out who wanted these sister's dead. The murder mystery just wraps itself around this small town and Harper and Tolliver just get sucked into it.


Grave Surprise (B+) : The second book draws you in from the get go. Harper has been invited to do a demonstration of their abilities at Bingham College by identifying bodies and causes of death in a historic Memphis cemetery. What She discovers among the dead is the body of Tabitha Morgenstern, a young girl she failed to find on a case several years ago. Falling under suspicion in the death Harper and Tolliver must stay in the small town attracting all sorts of characters to themselves..

When the professor that originally invited Harper to the college is found dead in the same grave that Harper had found the other body things heat up and she realizes she must unravel the mystery to clear her name if she ever expect to get out of the town in one piece. This is the book that has Harper looking at Tolliver in a not so sisterly manner and makes us re-examine that relationship too.


Ice Cold Grave (A) : At the end of the last book Harper and Tolliver's relationship shifts a bit and I was so happy I had the next book all lined up to read and I didn't miss a beat.
In this third installment Harper deals with one of her most emotional cases when she is hired by a woman to find her missing grandson. It seems that several boys have gone missing in the small town of Doraville, N.C. and although the local police had dismissed them as runaways the new sheriff, Sandra Rockwell suspects something else. She is proven correct when Harper finds, not just the missing grandson, but all the missing boys (plus two) buried in an abandoned farmhouse. They all had been tortured and abused by a serial killer who is still on the lose. Harper is emotionally drained and would do anything to get away from the horrors she sensed in those bodies but she is suddenly attacked and injured causing her and Tolliver to stay in the town that has become a media circus.

In this book we see the return of psychic Xylda Bernardo and her grandson, Manfred whom we met in the previous book. This book also has Tolliver and Harper discovering that there is no brotherly affection between them but something much more precious.

I cannot tell you how much I loved this series. I cannot wait for more Harper and Tolliver. I was greatly relieved that, even with the popularity of her Southern Vampire series, this series is still active.

We will be getting a new installment in October with the release of Grave Secrets!

Thank goodness I don't have to wait too long!

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Following up on my second take of Sookie and her gang of misfits. There are two mysteries in this story.

The first pops up when Lafayette, Merlotte's cook, is found murdered in the back seat of detective Andy Bellefleur's car. The car had sat in the parking lot the night before because Andy had been too drunk to drive it but when Sookie showed up for work she found the body (just the girl's luck!).

Before Sookie can look into this mystery she is pulled into the Vampire drama that takes her to Dallas where a vampire is missing and all fingers point to a minister that leads a racist congregation. Sookie is pulled into this when Eric requests her service on behalf of Stan Davis, the Dallas area's leader. Bill who became some sort of sheriff with the hopes it would give him enough political clout against Eric to protect Sookie, is forced to accept her involvement. Things start going wrong from the moment Sookie arrives there seems to be a traitor among Stan Davis' employees and they need Sookie to question everyone that was present at the time the kidnapped bouncer disappeared. Sookie has to deal with a suicidal vampires, ignorant cult followers and the disillusion from discovering that Bill is very much a vampire and struggles day to day to stay mainstream. When Sookie finally returns from Dallas, she returns alone.

Her breakup with Bill does not damper her need to find out what happened to Lafayette and she discovers that Lafayette was involved in some orgy stuff that was being kept hush hush in town. She makes herself a target for an invitation and recruits Eric to help her infiltrate the orgy party. It’s hilarious to read of how Eric dressed in some extreme costume (Lycra pants) to pass himself off as gay. Worlds collide when the minister whose plans she fouled in Dallas comes to Bon Temps to exact revenge on Sookie and attacks the house where the party was taking place.

Sookie is always a pleasure to read with the mix of innocence and determination she brings to the table. This installment did not disappoint, it had me on quite a roller coaster ride, even tearing up a bit for the suicidal vamp that was evil but needed redemption in a desperate way.

Club Dead is the next in the series and I’m happy to say it recently was release in Audiobook so I will be able to read it soon!! Yeah me!

Grade: A
Format: Audiobook

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

First in the Southern Vampire series and I really don’t know why I didn’t pick this series up before. I absolutely fell in love with Sookie!!! I can’t even explain her. She is a good girl that won't take your sh*t. She’s a country thang that tries to find good in everyone even when it’s obvious that that the person is a cesspool of evil.

Sookie is a small town girl that has a difficult disability to live with. She can hear people's thoughts. She works as a waitress in a bar (Merlotte's ) in a universe where Vampires have come out of the coffin so to say. They have spread to the world that being a Vampire is not an undead thing but a virus thing. The virus that makes people vampires cause sensibility to light and allergic reactions to silver. People have accepted this and cautiously accepted the vamps into society, although a lot of discrimination exists.

One day Bill Compton (a vampire who recently relocated to Bon Temps) walks into Merlotte's and she is instantly intrigued. This curiosity leads her to discover that a local couple plans to kidnap Bill and drain him of his blood (which is very sought after for it's healing affects and it's addictive nature). Sookie saves the day and rescues Bill earning her his gratitude. During the process of rescuing Bill, Sookie discovers that she cannot hear Bill's thoughts, which is a great relief and she becomes attracted to him.

Besides Sookie's romance with Bill (which is not the main focus in the book) there are other happening in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Someone has been going out of their way to murder some of the women that have enjoyed vampiric companionship. The problem is that all fingers point to Sookie's witless brother Jason. Jason is a dumb mutt of a man, screwing everything in his sight but he is not a serial killer and Sookie sets out to find out who is the real killer.

It's hard to see how Sookie keeps her moral compass when she has such a 'disability'. Hearing so much evil going around can make you lose faith in humanity but that is what is so charming about Sookie, she keeps her head on straight and is always clear on what is right and what is wrong. The cast of characters that Harris introduces brings to life this little town and allows us to root for them, feel their pain and their joy.

I never suspected the killer and that in itself made this book a thrill to read. I recently finished the second book in the series and the fun continues there (Review to follow)

If you haven't made Harris a must read on your TBR pile, do it. You won't regret it.

The books have actually been picked up by HBO to be made a series staring Anna Paquin (Oscar winning actress for 'The Piano'). Look for it listed as True Blood.

Grade: A
Format: Audiobook