Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris

The best of the 3 so far...

An Ice Cold Grave continues the trend of the well-written Harper Connolly series (Grave Sight and Grave Surprise). I read this in one sitting and agree with many other Amazon reviewers that this book is the best of the three so far. Not only does Ms Harris describe the wintry climate in such a way as to make you actually feel you're right there in the freezing temperatures with Harper and Tolliver and the rest of the inhabitants of Doraville, NC, but you can feel the tension among them as well.

An Ice Cold Grave is definitely darker than the first 2 books in the sense that there are more violence, more bodies, and more graphic descriptions of what happened to the victims. After all, Harper's talent is to find dead bodies, by nature a dark skill, regardless of whether the deaths are natural or not. On the other hand, Harper and Tolliver's personal and business relationship grows apace, and they each come to terms with what it is they want. {My hope is that this series doesn't follow Ms Harris's other two (ie, The Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series, Lily Bard/Shakespeare series), as well as a number of other paranomal/urban fantasy series, in that the "heroine" loves and then leaves or is left by the "hero(s)." There seems to be a trend of such women finding and losing one's lover (sometimes many lovers throughout a series) recently. I can think of 6 series offhand that have done this.}

Another nice thing about An Ice Cold Grave is that, for once, Harper and Tolliver aren't treated with suspicion by every person they meet. Sure, there's skepticism, but at least most of those they come in contact with aren't outright hostile, leading to a wearying tango and tangle with such individuals.

We also meet Xylda and Manfred Berdardo again, and both are colorful as always, but they're also sympathetic and poignant characters here. I can't wait to see what becomes of Bernardo and his psychic skills. Will he be a small talent, as he seems to believe, or as great as or better than his grandmother? And how will his path cross that of Harper and Tolliver in future?

I strongly recommend An Ice Cold Grave -- which can be read as a standalone but would enhance a reader's experience if read in sequence. The book consists of a taut story line, mystery, love, grief, betrayal, and pathos, but in the end, there's hope and compassion.

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