Kat Richardson's Greywalker Series

Sometimes I find a gem of a book in the displays of bookstores.  One day a few summers ago, I came across the second novel in this series, Poltergeist.  It was about a private investigator who had a near-death experience and ends up seeing ghosts.  I love mysteries (and I consider this series to be mysteries, along with other categories ...) and the book took place in Seattle - my area.  I tracked down the first and third in the series and set them aside.  Something told me (maybe one of those ghosts) that I might need uninterrupted time to read these.

They were worth the wait, which, in the event, was only a few weeks.  I enjoy reading books, and often read them quickly, but rarely do I devour them the way I did the Greywalker series.  I barely ate or slept until I had finished all three.  I believe I did venture out, once, to find the fourth one - but that was about it.  The setting is well-rendered, less atmospheric than many writers get with the Seattle rain.  It was very much Seattle - real, quirky, a few sort of gritty neighborhoods, but still a small city feel.  The characters were interesting and the plot, clearly, was compelling - so much so that it was almost bad for my health.  All the books were incredibly well-written, the characters and events consistent across the series - all right, I'm raving, but these books deserve it.  One of the things that helped draw me in even more is that the protagonist, Harper, reacts to everything in a very believable way.  She is pretty freaked out by the near-death experience, but even more freaked out when some of the oddest "side-effects", like seeing dead people and the world they live in, not only don't diminish but instead increase.  Most of the human characters are the same - with various levels of comfort and experience with the Grey. 

If you like mysteries, get these books, all of them.  If you like paranormal, get these books.  If you like a strong story with strong characters, ignore the genre and get these books.  I enjoyed them so much that I have suggested them to everyone I know.  A fifth novel, Vanished, came out last year and I bought and read it in one day.  A sixth is due in August 2011 - I can hardly wait.  I have read a lot of books that I enjoy, but this is one series where I devour each and wait, very impatiently, for the next.  Welcome to my addiction ...