Grave Sight

Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Grave Sight draws listeners into the intriguing world of Harper Connelly, a woman with a unique gift: she can "see" the deceased and how they died.

A teenage girl from a small Ozarks town is missing and feared dead. Hired by local police, Harper locates the girl's body in a nearby forest. But there's more than one corpse in those woods, and the second one raises questions no one wants to ask. Soon Harper and her stepbrother/assistant, Tolliver, are under suspicion. All they want is to get out of town, but they will have to clear their reputations first.

Charlaine Harris writes best-selling mysteries described by Booklist as "gripping and spicy", and praised by the Denver Post for their "goofy charm".

And hear more from the Harper Connelly series!

©2005 Charlaine Harris (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"A strong debut that will have readers dying for more." (Booklist)
"Harris delivers a knuckle-gnawing tale populated with well-developed, albeit edgy characters. A nifty puzzle toward the end will challenge the most jaded mystery buffs." (Publishers Weekly)

Decent

I enjoyed the story. It was a quick mystery with some surprising twists. Long enough for a car ride and a few walks.

REALLY enjoyable

This isn't scary, despite the title, but it IS a great mystery, and that's what I wanted. This is a series I want to continue.

Enjoyable

I enjoyed everything about this book. The story line, suspense, the characters, even the ending was well written in my opinion.

Interesting

While this is not the Sookie Stackhouse series, I still enjoyed this book. I do have to say that I am not thrilled with the narrator.., she is so precise when she speaks, she seems to enunciate everything. That is not a bad thing, but to me it just does not fit the character. Anyway, the book was good nonetheless.

Interesting, solid, enjoyable

It was a nice and unexceptional story. I appreciated how the heroine's supernatural abilities were used in a straightforward way. Her back story is interesting but her co-dependent relationship with her brother is a little odd. The author makes a point that the siblings are smart - crosswords, Jeopardy, etc. - but she was baffled by a clue that I imagine most readers have understood way before she does. It's a fine listen and I'm going to download the second one.

A suspenseful smalltown drama

I picked this book because I love Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. Admittedly, I haven't read a mystery in a while. I liked the story, definitely got caught up in the drama and was intrigued by the relationship between the main character, Harber Connelly and her brother.
But I found the story dark and weirdly depressing, not sure why.
I definitely wanted to finish the book, got a little confused by the conclusion- I had to rewind a few times but I rationalize it was because I was cleaning and multitasking during the read.
Is it worth the credit? yes. Have a bought another book in the series? No so far.
A bit surprised because I'm such a huge fan of Harris' other series, as I mentioned before.

A New series not quite developed but interesting

I expected more of a supernatural story and less of a murder mystery. I figured out the blood types immediately and thought it dragged out too much. Also the protagonist seems too damaged and weak. Too much hinting at the fact that they aren't blood brother and sister so when is the sex going to start. Will try the next in the series because I like Charlaine Harris but I hope it improves!

Not Sookie Stackhouse part 2

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think Alyssa Bresnahan did a great job in narration. I think her voice lent well to Harper. I have to admit, I was a little off-put by what I thought was a very monotone performance, but after the book was over, I really felt Alyssa had captured the Main character, Harper and I couldn't imagine here being voiced by anyone else.

Harper and Tolliver are not really sleuths, they seem to be drug into these situations kicking and screaming. Harris seemed to waiver from time to time. Are they trying to solve the mystery? or Are they just helpless by-standers caught in the cross-fire.

I found Harper to be weird and not in the good way. If you picked up this book because you loved the light hearted, peppy Sookie Stackhouse, then you will be disappointed. Harper was a little hard to relate to, but am starting to warm up to her. I hope that continues in the next book. She's strong and has a sharp wit, but at the same time seems totally dependent on her step-brother, to the point of not being able to function without him. I'm having a really hard time with her relationship with Tolliver, her step-brother. I don't think it's health. Yes I know...not related, were teens when the parents hooked up....but still I'm a little off-put by it and the total dependency Harper has on him.

There is a lot of backstory to this book. We learn a wealth of details about the characters childhood, outside of the accident of Harper's that gave her the gift of body location. While I really enjoy the fleshing out of characters. There was a lot for such a short book.

Over all I enjoyed the book. The story was a fast listen and I rushed to get the next. I have high hopes that the characters will develop more and they will jump into the mystery solving business with both feet (no more wavering).

Little bit of mystery, little bit of paranormal

Where does Grave Sight rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was a fun, light read. I've listened to quite a few books - while this doesn't crack my top favorites list, I still found it enjoyable, and occasionally found myself staying in the car longer than necessary to hear a bit more.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Grave Sight?

Imaging Harper and Hollis at the gospel choir while Tolliver likely pouted at the motel was pretty funny.

Have you listened to any of Alyssa Bresnahan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard her other books, but I can say I think she did well with a slow southern drawl.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud at a few points. I did get pretty annoyed by some of Harper's tics.

Any additional comments?

Charmaine Harris usually writes enjoyable books, and this one didn't disappoint. It was worth a credit to me.

Charlaine knows the South

No other author knows the mindsets and prejudice of people who are “different” better than Ms. Harris. And Alyssa Bresnahan knows how to express Harris’s writing with her great voice! A true treat!