An Ice Cold Grave: Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 3

They said:

"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 the only one left 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. Afterward, 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."

I thought:

Charlaine Harris's did it again. Great writing put me in the middle of things with characters and surrounding that rang true.

If this is your first experience with Harper after reading the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries, don't expect any supernatural beings. The only oddity is her ability to see the last moments of deceased person's life; which came about after being stuck by lightening. With this vehicle Ms. Harris moves the duo around the country for each new mystery.

Alyssa Bresnahan narration was "spot on", as they say in Britain. Each character rang true consistently.

Using one of my Audible.com credits was well spent. If you like a good cozy mystery, keep this one at the top of your list! 

Travel To A Distant Country In A Different Time!

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was one of my Audible.com choices. Unfortunately, there is an oops in the recording that therefore messed up the download. The end of the two parts are cut off. It didn't bother me so much on Part 1 but was at a crucial moment in Part 2! (GRRRR!) Naturally I called Audible.com immediately! They are going to fix it and then alert me, so I can get the rest of the story! The question is how long will it take them to fix it! You know how some of us are when we are so into a book that we just have to know, can't wait to know the rest of the story! I'm one of those! What do you do then? ORDER THE BOOK!

Publisher's Summary:

"In 17th-century Persia, a 14-year-old woman believes she will be married within the year. When her beloved father dies, she and her mother find themselves alone and without a dowry. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven to pay for their journey to Isfahan, where they will work as servants for her uncle, a rich rug designer in the court of the legendary Shah Abbas the Great.

Despite her lowly station, the young woman blossoms as a brilliant designer of carpets, a rarity in a craft dominated by men. But while her talent flourishes, her prospects for a happy marriage grow dim. Forced into a secret marriage to a wealthy man, the young woman finds herself faced with a daunting decision: forsake her own dignity, or risk everything she has in an effort to create a new life.
©2007 Anita Amirrezvani; (P)2007 Hachette Audio"

And that is where it cuts off! Decision time!

It should have taken just a bit over 13 hours to hear the entire story that is narrated by the rich voice of actress Shohreh Aghdashloo who is originally from Iran. Her voices add so much color to enjoyment of this book! I feel in love with her voice, accent, laugh, and intellect the first time I saw her on the Craig Ferguson show.

Maybe I need to expand a bit. When I read I hear the story in my head with my American accent. I've heard German, French, Irish, Scottish, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and the variety we have in America, and India so sometime a bit of those accents rings in my ears. The voices of the middle eastern countries have not added their music to my ears enough to remember them.

One thing is learned quickly...the role of this woman in 17th century Persia wasn't any better than that of women in Europe in the same socioeconomic level.

Anita Amirrezvani has not only told us the story of a gutsy young woman but bits about rug making from dye to design to finished product. She also gives us some short folk tales of the period.

I am giving you my review how because I cannot see the review changing much with reading the hard copy. It's been out for a while so you should be able to find it in most of your usual haunts! It's almost Halloween, so go haunting those places for this book in any format you like!

UPDATE:

I have now finished both the book and the recording. Sure enough, it was as wonderful as I expected! I loved all the characters in the book because of what they added to not only the understanding their motivation, but also the flavor of the peoples of the time whether good or bad. There is a richness to this book that makes me anxious to see what she comes up with next!

The conversation between the author and narrator at the end of the recording is most interesting!

Who should read this book? I would have gotten a lot out of this book about the age of 13 or 14 so young women, mothers and daughters, people who want to know a bit more about the run making process and their makers, people who love myths and legends! This is definitely on my favorites for 2011!

View all my reviews