Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

No. of pages: 263
Rating: 10/10
Series: Harper Connelly (Book 1)

Synopsis: Harper Connelly had a lucky escape when she was hit by lightning: she didn't die. But sometimes she wishes she had died, because the lightning strike left her with an unusual talent: she can find dead people - and that's not always comfortable. Everyone wants to know how she does it: it's a little like hearing a bee droning inside her head, or maybe the pop of a Geiger counter, a persistent, irregular noise that increases in strength as she gets closer. It's almost electric: a buzzing all through her body, and the fresher the corpse, the more intense the buzz. Harper and her brother Tolliver make their living from finding the dead, for desperate parents, worried friends . . . and police departments who have nowhere else to look. They may not believe in her abilities, but sometimes the proof is just too much for even the most sceptical of police chiefs to deny. But it's not always easy for someone like Harper, for the dead *want* to be found - and too often, finding the body doesn't bring closure; it opens a whole new can of worms.

Review: This is the first book I've read by Charlaine Harris, and what a great introduction to someone who I'm sure will become a favourite. I love her style of writing, it's so easy to read, but it keeps you gripped throughout. Harper and Tolliver are great characters, and you feel like you really get to know them during the book. Harper was hit with lightening when she was 15, and since then, she's been able to sense dead bodies and tell what they died from. So she and Tolliver, her brother, travel around the country tracking missing people, for a fee of course. When they go to the Ozarks to find a missing, but believed dead, teenage girl for the county officials, it's just another job...until they get accused of murder. As a result, Harper goes on a mission to find out what's really happening in this small town, with some shocking results.

The story was great, and I couldn't put the book down, not even to go to sleep. Harper's talent is interesting to read about, as is the story Charlaine weaves through the book. I loved the relationship between Harper and Tolliver, and thought it was written really well. I guessed a little of the ending, but was plenty surprised by some of it too. I would really recommend this, it's very enjoyable. I will definitely be finishing the rest of this series and can't wait to get my hands on the Sookie Stackhouse series by the same author also.