Book Review - Grave Sight

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

As a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, I've been slowly making my way through some of her other works and after just finishing Grave Sight, this is by far my favourite of Harris' novels I have read so far outside of the Sookie books. Now, I know that this series has many mixed reviews, but personally I thought it was just as entertaining as the Sookie novels and the protagonist is somewhat darker than Miss. Stackhouse, which considering that her "talent" is to locate dead bodies, her dark personality isn't a surprise.

The novel follows Harper Connely and her step-brother Tolliver Lang as they travel the country using Harper's ability to locate dead bodies as a source of income. The idea that she gets paid for what she does is constantly argued over in the book, and I think that Harris has invited the reader to question the morality of Harper's job themeselves. Well, this particular job lands them in a small own in Arkansas, the same kind of town that Harris uses a lot in her work, where they are hired to find the body of a missing teenage girl. It soon becomes evident that the girl was murdered, and before they know it, Harper and Tolliver are sucked into the investigation.

The story moves at a brisk pace, and despite the mystery not being as complex as some others of the same genre are, the story itself and the charm of the small town in contrast to Harper and Tolliver who are completely out of their element and essentially want nothing to do with the investigation. The supporting characters, as usual with Harris, are a varied bunch, and some perform more important functions than others. Interestingly enough, one character, Cameron, Harper's sister doesn't actually appear in the book, but she is constantly referenced as she herself went missing as a child, so I expect to see that storyline continued into future books and the presence of Cameron gives another side of Harper using her gift in the way she does as she is hopeful of finding her sister's body someday.

One negative I do have about the book however, is that it takes Harper a while to actually start putting the pieces together. I would have liked a little more intrigue and mystery for her to try and solve because she actually only managed to solve parts of the case, the rest was told to her during the final confrontation with the killer. I know Harper isn't an actual detective, however considering that this is a mystery book and Harper is out sleuth, the outcome was slightly disappointing due to her lack of participation.

But all in all this a very entertaining and easily read book. I finished it in about three days, and I'm sure it could have been read in a sitting or two if you like to read that way. It doesn't read as fast as any of the Sookie novles, however, there is less mystery in those books, so I was grateful for the slightly slower speed of events which allows for the reader to piece together what the eventual outcome will be without slowing down the pace of the book, the story moves fast, taking place over the course of about a week, which seems to fly by.