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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 3)
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List Price: $23.95
Our Price: $16.29
Your Save: $ 7.66 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Berkley Prime Crime
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780425217290
ISBN: 0425217299
Label: Berkley Prime Crime
Manufacturer: Berkley Prime Crime
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 280
Publication Date: 2007-09-25
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Studio: Berkley Prime Crime
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Editorial Reviews:
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Hired to find a boy gene missing in Doraville, North Carolina, Harper Connelly and her brother Tolliver head there-only to discover that the boy was only one of several who had disappeared over the previous five years. All of them teenagers. All unlikely runaways.
All calling for Harper.
Harper soon finds them-eight victims, buried in the half-frozen ground, all come to an unspeakable end. Afterwards, what she most wants to do is collect her fee and get out of town ahead of the media storm that's soon to descend. But when she's attacked and prevented from leaving, she reluctantly becomes a part of the investigation as she learns more than she cares to about the dark mysteries and long-hidden secrets of Doraville-knowledge that makes her the next person likely to rest in an ice-cold grave.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: better than I expected -- a pleasant read
Comment: "An Ice Cold Grave" is a modern day variant murder mystery. The setting is much like our own, the major difference being that the main character, H--, is a woman who was hit by lightning and now "knows" when human bodies are nearby, and can psychicly determine cause of death and some other details. She and T-- are hired to find a teenage boy who is presumed to have been murdered. What they find in the ice & snow are multiple victims from a pretty horrible murderer. A string of bad luck causes H-- and T-- to be stuck in town in the midst of the investigation.
Though this book is third in a series, I dodn't feel that you'd need to read the previous two. For those of you who have read the previous, I think this one is better than #1 and #2. I wish I had read it first! The "everybody hates me" elements have been dropped or subdued, the police are both reasonable and respectful, and we aren't drowned in casual sex. H-- and T--'s reason for remaining in town is contrived, but we knew it was coming, so no biggie. The feeling is more murder mystery than scifi/fantasy. The middle drags a bit, but the ending was exciting, well written, and left me wanting more.
For myself, I'd appreciate a sequel that didn't have any murders, but that is probably asking too much. Books with murders make me feel down. If you don't mind reading about murders, you should add one star to my rating.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This is a page turner
Comment: I love Charlaine Harris' books. All of her series! But I especially love her Harper Connelly mysteries. I think it's because Harper is both strong and yet vulnerable, and that's difficult to get across in print. But Harris manages to do it and the books are stronger for it.
Harper Connelly suffered a lightening strike and since that time (her step-brother Tolliver saved her life), she has not only been able to locate corpses but knows what and how they died. She and Tolliver have taken that talent and made a living out of her psychic abilities. They travel together working to help family members and police solve cases. Finding the bodies is easy-it's telling the family and seeing the pain of death that is difficult and draining to Harper.
Harper and Tolliver arrive in Doraville, North Carolina to find the missing grandson of a local resident. It turns out there are a number of missing boys from the community. It doesn't take Harper long to find the six missing boys' bodies (plus two that they didn't know about) and become embroiled in a serial killer case. Harper doesn't want the kind of publicity that comes along side a serial killer case and tries to leave town. She is stopped from leaving by a physical attack from an unknown person (could it be the killer?). If Harper isn't careful, she could be the next victim.
This is a page turner. And I love that Harris explores a bit of Harper's inner self. It makes the mystery even better.
Armchair Interviews says: Read An Ice Cold Grave! You'll love it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ice Cold Grave
Comment: I love Charlaine Harris, period. She is a bit scary, and always great fun.
When one of her books is published, I inhabit her world for as long as the story lasts.
"Ice Cold Grave," is suspenseful, a little sexy, as are all of her books, and great fun.
Mrs. Harris claims to be a soccer mom, but she is so much more. I wish she lived across the street. Not next door, mind you. I wouldn't be too happy if one of her vampires showed up in my bedroom... On second thought, maybe I would.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Getting To Know Harris
Comment: About a month ago I read all the Sookie Stackhouse books, and decided to read her other stories. I like this series. I think anyone who reads Ms. Harris has to expect creepy and unresolved relationships.
I have no problem with Tolliver and Harper becoming a couple. They aren't brother and sister and didn't come together until they were teenagers. Plus, from the moment they're parents married, Tolliver and Harper were placed in the role of mother and father to the two youngest children. They weren't able to be children together, they had adult responsibilities and only had each other to lean upon and offer comfort and support.
I was disappointed in how the love scene was written. I understand that Harper is only 24 or 25 and Tolliver around 28, but the juvenile language that the author uses to express their thoughts and feeling, doesn't fit their relationship. It should have been fraught with the tension of Tolliver's fear of almost losing Harper.
We experience his increasing jealousy, which is normal, but that shouldn't have been the reason for the two of them to finally express their adult love for one another. After all that they have experienced together and their emotional commitment to each other, their coming together should have been more passionate, sweet, and filled with loving words. Yes, Tolliver does express some of his thoughts, but it's just not done to my satisfaction.
As seems to Ms. Harris's way, I expect that Tolliver and Harper will eventually break up as a couple, and maybe come back together at then end of the series. I hope that this statement proves false, as I think, it would be more real if they grew to trust one another as a couple, and allowed their feelings to become firm with love and commitment. After their childhood and what they've experienced since Harper being hit by lightening, this would be the most satisfactory outcome, at least for me.
As an aside, I think Tolliver's biological brother killed Harper's biological sister and we'll find this out in a future book. I hope Ms. Harris doesn't make it that Tolliver knew, because he so would not have kept this from Harper. Tolliver may have his faults, but he does love Harper more then anyone else. I think if this hypothesis proves true (his brother being the killer)that this will cause some hurt to the couple. However, it would only make them realize what they've always known that they only have each other.
I thought the story was well done, and I'm interested and awaiting the next book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Easy to forget
Comment: I am a huge fan of this author but this book was easy to forget. Stick with the Sookie Stackhouse series if you like her and either put this one on the summer reading list or leave it be altogether. It just didn't give me a lasting impression.
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