Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris

ISBN: 9780425230152)

I bought this book.

Harris’ Harper Connelly series is my favorite from her, far more I’m a little sad to say, than her Sookie books. Grave Secret is the fourth in the series that follows a young woman and her stepbrother (now lover, sounds weird, and it is a little weird, but they aren’t related and often it works well) as they try to find the missing dead (Harper can sense the dead, a gift she got after being struck by lightning).

With Grave Secret Harris dives deep into Harper and Tolliver’s dark childhood. They return to Texas to visit with their half sisters amid a lot of stress and drama (mainly from their aunt and uncle who are very unsure about the effects Harper and Tolliver’s visits have on the younger girls). Then while out with the girls Harper and Tolliver run into the last person they expect to see, Tolliver’s father, now out of jail and looking to reconnect. The past comes flooding back, nearly emotional crippling Harper. But the present won’t be ignored either, as someone who has reason to hate Harper and Tolliver shoots at them through the window of their hotel.

While Harper is functional, the rawness of her traumatic past and her desperate need for Tolliver’s support and understanding is evident in every sentence of this book. Now with him in the hospital and someone still trying to kill her for an unknown reason (not that there are no reasons, there are too many for Harper to be able to commit to just one) Harper has to step up and be the one to save the day.

Where other series flirt with “the traumatic past”, using it as a character shorthand to make more complex characters this series immerses itself in it, using Harper to explore “how does a person build a life after trauma” the way most urban fantasies explore “what if vampires existed”.

I highly recommend this series, as a satisfying mystery series, with compelling characters that readers will be able to truly connect with. Harris’ strength has always been in her character building, but in this one her storytelling skills are in full bloom, packing a powerful, unforgettable punch.