Grave Secret

Spoilers
Overall, this book is about what defines a family, family relationships, and how far one would go to protect it. Drug addicted father recently out of prison tries to reconnect with his family. The legally brother and sister, but not blood relatives, main characters become engaged. And even the main plot twist with the youngest vs oldest sisters and what lengths the rest of the family would go to protect them.

This book finally deals with the endlessly rehashed family issues from the previous book in a few creative twists. I was actually disappointed this was the last book in the series since it would have to deal with cases (and the ...slightly disturbing but technically okay... relationship between the main characters after being brought up as brother and sister).

Pros:
A nicely complex plot ties Harper's case and her family woes together.
We get to meet the rest of the family and see their interactions with each other and their definition of family. I really enjoyed how the case and the Cameron case intertwined.

Still a fun, light story with novel ideas.

Cons: (Plot issues that really threw me out of the story)
For claiming to be smarter than average, Harper and Toliver make some silly decisions. Toliver and a police officer were both shot by someone trying for Harper. Yet, the next day she insists on going back to the same hotel without waiting for an escort so she can... shower.

In spite of a phone call in the last book (a few weeks/months prior) by a stressed woman resulting in a gun battle, Harper and Toliver fall for the same trick again.

The same trick results in 2 people dead, but our hero and heroine are promptly back in the car looking for a hotel room. Evidently all the police response in the other books is not the norm in Dallas/Texarkana.

Once 2 people are dead and Toliver hospitalized, the shooter inexplicably ignores the vulnerable Harper and stops trying to kill her.

Some of the family stories still include the same ‘cut and paste' descriptions found in the other 3 books. There are at least some new examples and descriptions.