Such a weird book with the incest factor - not really incest but Harper still calls him her brother...But enjoyable. Harper is not quite as charming as Sookie, but there is still this great southern housewife tone that I am surprised I like. ( )

Love, love, loved it. Shot right through it. Lots of surprises and resolution of issues that have run through all of the books. Further development of the chief characters. Couldn't put it down once I started it, which is a contrast to the other book I'm reading, which I'm forcing myself to finish because I got it through the Early reviewers program. ( )

In Grave Secrets, Harper and Tolliver finally learn what happened to Harper's sister (and Tolliver's stepsister), Cameron, when she disappeared eight years ago.

The two are now together as a couple, and are trying to navigate this new relationship amidst people who don't quite understand their not-siblings-but-step-siblings history. When Harper's services are requested in Texas, very near their hometown, this new case coincides with Tolliver's dad'release from prison and he begins pushing Tolliver to let him back into his life, much to Tolliver's and Harper's disgust.

This one is very bleak. There are quite a few deaths, and the revelation of what happened to Cameron is startling, to say the least.

I felt like the story was a bit rushed - at least the resolution - and I get the sense that Harris is ending this series. Haven't checked into that hunch, but I'd be disappointed it that were the case. Harper and Tolliver are appealing as reluctant heroes. Having lived through hellish childhoods, neither of them are the chipper type, and the nature of Harper's job - standing over graves to experience the dead's last moments - doesn't lend itself to cheerful stories, but they're practical and caring in their own way.

I recommend the series. ( )

Grave Secret is a careless end to Charlaine Harris' Harper Connelly series. Though the novel offers resolutions to previous questions and uncertainties, the presentation of these resolutions is lackluster and rushed. The plot is poorly paced and often convoluted. and characters are inconsistent and tedious. If this were a debut novel I could be more forgiving of its faults, but as one of dozens (and the fourth in this particular series) it smacks of deadlines and a lack of professionalism. ( )

Grave Secret is the finale for the Harper Connelly series. Charlaine Harris did an excellent job of tying up all loose ends and taking care of unanswered questions. It was an excellent way to end the series. ( )

Harper and Tolliver were heading to Dallas. This was not a business trip, it was personal. A visit to their sisters, and Tolliver's brother. However if making a quick stop off was going to make a very rich Lizzie Joyce very happy and also put some money in their hands then what is the harm in that?

Just as things had started to come together for Harper and Tolliver, their past comes back to haunt them. Although they live with the scares of their past everyday, this time their past has appeared in the form of Matthew, Toliver's father. Matthew is desperate for reconciliation with his sons; he is also stalking his daughters.

However Tolliver has just been shot and others have been murdered, although Harper maybe the real one in danger. And after all these years there is also sudden news of Cameron, Harpers missing sister. Harper is left to figure out what role if any Matthew plays in all this, or is everything that's going wrong all to do with the job they did for Lizzie Joyce?

The fourth and final book in the Harper Connelly series, Grave Secret brings Harper's story to a close tying up all the loose ends in a neat package. Harpers life while not conventional in any sense of the word is a source of mystery and intrigue. A fitting end to a short but ever so intriguing whodunit series. ( )

I’m glad this one gave closure, but it did seem to pull together a liiiitle too quickly for my taste. Just a bit too convenient and neat in the last couple of chapters.  ( )

This is the fourth (and surmised last) novel in the Harper Connelly mysteries series. This was a pretty good book and it tied up a lot of the mystery surrounding Harper and Tolliver's family.

In this book Harper and Tolliver are doing a job near the area they were raised in as children. During Harper's reading she unintentionally upsets her client by revealing some unknown information about death of one of the people in the cemetery. She thinks nothing of it until someone shoots Tolliver through the window of their motel. During a visit with Tolliver's brother, Mark, they find out that their dad (Tolliver's dad, Harper's step-dad) just got let out of jail. All of these things start piling on top of each other; someone's out to kill Harper, Tolliver's dad won't leave them alone, there is a spotting of Harper's sister who went missing twelve years earlier, and Harper's most recent client is out to get some answers. Could it all be coincidence? Or is everything that is happening related?

This was a great mystery. I was a bit concerned when the beginning of the book read more like a complex soap opera than anything else. But to Harris's credit there are a lot of entangling relationships to set up at the beginning of the book. Maybe a third way through the book things really start to pick up pace as the mystery grabs hold and Harper is constantly fearing for her life.

I have always liked Tolliver and Harper's characters. They are believable and vulnerable; and yet, they do their best to be good people. I loved how Harris dealt with their evolving relationship. Harris does a good job with all of the characters in this series.

The plot was twisted and somewhat complicated. I enjoyed it. The pace of the book is definitely relentless and griping once you get past the first third. Poor Harper goes through so much over and over again. It was a well put together book, with a good pace, and a good plot.

I also enjoyed how everything was wrapped up. You get answers to most of your questions, there are a couple small unknowns left, but the book sums up everything nicely and leaves the characters in good spots. This has been a fun series to read all around and this book was no exception to that. ( )

It was a pleasant-enough story but this is another series that it may be time to lay aside. I find that the individual stories are blurring in my mind and, a few days after I finish one, most of the details are gone...a Chinese food type of book, where I'm hungry an hour later. This is true of most "formula" mystery series but seems particularly true of some, including (for me), this one.

It's a good spot to pause—some of the ongoing plot lines such as the relationship between Harper and Tolliver, Harper's missing sister, as well as the as-yet-unmet family members are woven into this story and, upon reaching the final page, there are no cliff-hangers forcing you to wait for the next book. ( )

This is the fourth book in Harris's Harper Connelly series. It's very good, but I do suggest reading the series in order, so that the development of the characters is clear. Harper, who was hit by lightning as a teenager, has the unique ability to find and "hear" dead bodies. She travels around the country with her stepbrother and now lover, Tolliver. This book really delves into their troubled pasts, especially the disappearance of Harper's sister, Cameron. If you've followed the series, this book is very rewarding. Harper becomes more and more real as the book goes on, and it's a testament to Harris's abilities at an author that although I, like many of the people Harper and Tolliver meet, would normally be weirded out by the fact that they were raised as brother and sister but are now "together", for them it makes perfect sense and you really feel the need they have for one another. A great entry in what is, IMHO, tied with the Lily Bard books for Harris's best series. Four stars. ( )

I like that this one had a bit more conclusion for the series, but I wonder where she's going to go from here. ( )

A case brings Harper and Tolliver back to Texas, a case which seems to be linked to their past.

The fourth in the Harper Connelly books was a satisfying conclusion to the series.

Just finished book 4. Another satisfying read.

Harper is hired by a wealthy Texas family to learn the circumstances of the death of the family patriarch. The decision to hire Harper is for amusement at first, until Harper reveals the actual way the patriarch and his caretaker dies.

Harper and Tolliver are not related by blood at all and so they establish a monogamous relationship. This coupling is not embraced by their relatives. They also find out that Matthew (Tolliver's father and Harper's stepfather) is out of prison. The couple must decide if they can forgive and trust Matthew. The same Matthew who, along with Harper's drug-addicted mother, severely neglected their children.

Charlaine Harris succeeds in developing a compelling mystery that intermingles with several issues. I won't add more to avoid spoilers but be prepared for an emotionally complex ride.

Harper is one of the best characters I've read. Her gift is desired by people but in the end they despise her because they can't handle the truth. She is so relatable as a person who didn't come from the best background and isn't perfect and nice and happy all the time.

I hope this book isn't the last.

My thoughts...Let me start by saying if you have not read any books in the series, you need to go back and read Grave Sight. This series is different from the Sookie books. I would describe it as a mystery with a hint of paranormal. You may want to cover your eyes here, while I will not give away any Grave Secret spoilers, previous events may be disclosed.

Grave Secret picks right up where Ice Cold Grave left off. They start off on a usual job assignment that lands them in a graveyard. Where as the other books mentioned it, this last installment really got deep into Harper and Toliver's past. We learn the full extent of the abuse, neglect, and poverty they and their siblings lived through. Harper and Tolliver's quest to find their missing sister Cameron continues and they find themselves where it all began, their hometown. Charlaine Harris writes incredible strong characters. Harper shows tremendous growth in this book. She is much more dependent on herself, partially because Tolliver is unable to help her, and she changes for the better. I was satisfied at the end of the story with the characters situations and their relationships with each other.

The storyline in this book was OK. Although I was not on the edge of my seat, I was intrigued enough to keep reading. The ending came very quickly and left me shocked. It took a twist I was not expecting. The ending did feel a little abrupt and the current mystery wound up so conveniently. But overall, it was a great read and I am satisfied with the way the series ended. ( )

4th in the Harper Connelly series. Not to give away major plot points here: Harper and Tolliver on a case which ties back to their own childhood. This could be the end of the series because, as another reviewer said, there is resolution to several major plot lines.

It's the usual Charlaine Harris - tight, good story, good characters that you love, hate and care about but...... The second half of the book feels rushed. Almost as if Harris was thinking "I want this done so I can get back to my major money-maker (Sookie Stackhouse) but my contract requires four books so.." The ending is a surprise (and a bit of a shocker) but you don't feel *pulled* to it. It's more like the author is both pulling you and shoving you at the resolution. You enjoy the book, but you do end up feeling like there should be something else. ( )

This mystery, number four in the series was excellent. ( )

Grave Secret is the fourth Harper Connelly paranormal mystery from Charlaine Harris. For the uninitiated, Harper Connelly, after suffering a lightning strike at the age of 15, has the ability to sense the dead and to know how they died. She and her brother--that is to say, her stepbrother, Tolliver, who is also her manager and business partner--make a living by traveling around the country consulting for local police departments and people who want to learn the truth about the death of their loved ones.

At the end of last installment, An Ice Cold Grave, Harper and her brother--um, stepbrother--had finally acknowledged the nature of their love for one another, overcome the ick factor, and become partners in all senses of the word. In this latest, everything they do is informed by this development in their lives--they're telling everyone they know, and most everyone is as skeeved and intrigued by the situation as I was. Some are downright disgusted, and it doesn't help matters that Harper frequently still refers to Tolliver as "my brother." And, although Harper and Tolliver don't share any blood, they do share two half sisters, the children of his father and her mother. Why, it's a regular old Southern Gothic!

Grave Secret neatly dovetails the current case, that of a wealthy Texas family that wants to learn the details of their grandfather's cause of death eight years earlier, with the trauma that drives them, the disappearance of their--rather, Harper's--sister Cameron nearly a decade before. Tolliver's father, Matthew, has been released from prison, and although his desire to connect with the son he abandoned for drugs many years earlier is both obnoxious and suspect, it helps steer the lovers closer to an understanding of the truth.

Charlaine Harris is a master craftsman, and endlessly creative (although she juggles four different series, each is distinct in tone, voice, and story from the others). She brings together the paranormal, the Gothic, and the crime aspects of her story neatly, and in a most satisfying way. ( )

This was a great book! Charlaine Harris did it again - she created a character that is like you and me but so not like you and me. Harper Connelly has continued to grow and evolve with each story and that makes the characater believable because she shows anger, love, frustration, etc, in such believable ways and in such believable circumstances. Harper isn't a cardboard cut out or one demensional in any way. Plus, she doesn't become some super hero (ala Sookie Stackhouse the authori's other famous series) that everyone wants to be with.

I read this book in 2 days and enjoyed every minute of it! I was disappointed when I came to the end because I think this may be the last book in the series. The author left it open to continue on but the resolution of several story threads led me to believe that this may be the end. I would be sad to see the end of Harper and Tolliver but think this is a good ending for them - happiness in their lives and closure with their past.

This is the 4th book in the series and you really should read the previous books to understand the character completely and what makes her tick. Yes, the author does a good job of filling that it but you miss some very good reads and some great character development.

I highly recommend this book! ( )