Cassandra Reads

Since this is a series collection, instead of a single book, this review is a little different. I'm reviewing each book as I get done with it, since I don't want to add each book just to review it.

Grave Sight 4 stars- It took me a little time to get into this one, since it was the start of the series and I wasn't really sure what to expect (I just love her writing and saw this collection on the overdrive site and had to read it). I know some people have issues with her job, but I never even considered how odd it is until some of the people in the town started reacting to her job. It is a little odd, but she is right the dead want to be found. She finds them, simple as that.

I wonder if I'm the only one that saw sexual tension between Tolliver and Harper? I'm not sure that's what it was, but it didn't seem like brother-sister affection. I know they are only step, but they were raised together. Maybe I'm just seeing something that isn't really there?

This book was a quick read, after I got into it. The drama happened all at once, with some build up. The main drama happened after Tolliver was arrested on BS charges: Harper gets hurt right after, then shot and so on.. They almost got out of town and then they got a call. I wonder what would have happened if they'd ignored said call and just left anyway?

Grave Surprise 4.5 stars- I wish I'd read this over just a few days instead of getting side tracked, but oh well. I think I was right about the UST between Harper and Tolliver, but I'm not completely sure. there was something odd going on there. She hesitated over calling him her brother and one point and even told David that he wasn't her brother, but he was her best friend, I wonder if Tolliver caught that? There was also the whole doesn't trust anyone that much but Tolliver thing, when she was thinking about having children someday. One of the detectives even assumed they were together, which really confused me at first. She asked if they had kids. Maybe I'm just seeing what I want/expect to see. They haven't talked about it, so I don't know what Tolliver thinks.

It took me a while to figure out who. If they'd realized it sooner, I would have been really confused, but there were hints, closer to the end of the book that gave it away before it was explicitly stated.

One thing I wasn't expecting was for Victor to be gay. I don't care or anything, I just have really bad gaydar, so even if he were a real person who I've met, I wouldn't have known!

An Ice Cold Grave 5 Stars Okay, first of all, I so called it! There have been hints about Tolliver and Harper getting together, and that finally happens in this book. Harper realized she loved him as more than a brother (their step, but half raised together). Tolliver takes a chance in this book and kisses her. There were several hints that it was going to happen, that Tolliver felt the same way about Harper that she feels about him. He told one of the SBI guys that he wasn't her brother and I was sure then. I know them getting together isn't really that important, compared to the eight dead boys (9 by the end of the book, but he killed himself) but I'm really glad that I wasn't just seeing the UST in the first book!

This book was very easy to get into. I'm not sure how long it took me to read, but I could have read it all in one sitting. I didn't, since I'm to restless to do so, but I could have.

The plot for this one was more depressing than the first two books, since these were teenagers. The second book also had a child as the victim, but that was just one and this one has six missing boys, which is why Harper is called in. They are all between the ages of 14-18, which is a big age for runaways and that's assumed to be the problem at first but the new sheriff doesn't agree.

The story quickly unfolds from there, including Harper getting hurt (or course) and an unexpected twist in the story. Harper quickly finds the bodies of the missing boys, all of them have been raped and murdered. Harper wonders if there aren't two killers. Manfred shows up with his grandmother and Tolliver gets a little weird. Turns out to be jealousy, since he loves Harper and thinks that Manfred has a chance at keeping her. When Tolliver and Harper get together, he is happy to just be their friend. When the first is discovered, I wasn't that shocked since I thought something was going on there.

Grave Surprise - 3.5 stars In some way the only point to this book was to get all the loose ends tied up. This book explains Cameron's death. Tolliver and Harper get some feedback on their relationship and no one really seems happy for them. Well, Manfred does, but he would rather have Harper with him. The ending was sudden, with all the action happening in the last few pages. I'm glad the Cameron mystery was solved, but I'm not sure this should be seen as the ending of the series (Harris did leave it very open ended!). I'm going to miss this series.