Grave Secret

September 7, 2009
In bestseller Harris's solid fourth Harper Connelly mystery (after 2007's An Ice Cold Grave
), Harper, who can not only locate bodies but also deduce the cause of death, and her stepbrother, Tolliver Lang, are summoned to Texas by members of the wealthy Joyce family, who are looking for answers behind the death of their patriarch, Rich. But when an act of violence threatens the pair, Harper realizes that the circumstances behind Rich's death may have ties to her own troubled childhood in nearby Texarkana. Further complicating matters, Tolliver and his drug addict father, who's recently been paroled, have an uneasy reunion that stirs up long-buried memories about the unsolved disappearance eight years earlier of Harper's older sister, Cameron. Harper and Tolliver's relationship, which blossomed into romance in Ice Cold
, is the beating heart of the story and helps smooth over the somewhat rushed and questionably coincidental plot.

October 27, 2009
Thanks to being struck by lightning, Harper Connelly can see dead people. In her fourth outing (after An Ice Cold Grave), Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver are back in Texas, meeting with clients and visiting their baby stepsisters. Tolliver's father, Matthew, reappears, too, this time clean of drugs. As if family tensions aren't tough enough, they must dodge mysterious bullets. Could the shooting be related to Harper's Texas clients? Verdict While Harris's tightly paced mystery is a good series entry, newbies should read the first three books because the story line and characters develop chronologically. Some readers may also be offended by the romantic relationship between stepsiblings Harper and Tolliver. This title will be most appreciated by Harris fans and readers who enjoy paranormal mysteries. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 7/09.]-Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2009
The fourth installment in Harris Harper Connelly series finds Harpera young woman who, ever since being struck by lightning as a girl, has the ability to locate dead bodieswith her stepbrother and now lover, Tolliver, in Texas, to visit their younger half sisters. On their way, they make a pit stop to help two young women discover the circumstances surrounding their grandfathers death. Harper comes across another revelation: the grandfathers much younger caregiver gave birth to a child shortly before his death.Though intrigued by the discovery, Harper has more personal matters to attend to: Tollivers father, Matthew, has shown up claiming to be clean, which both Harper and Tolliver doubt. Harper is also rocked by the news that her missing younger sister, Cameron, may have been spotted at a mall in Texarkana. The stakes are high on a personal level for Harper and Tolliver, which will hook followers of the series and keep them eagerly turning the pages to get to the revelatory ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)