Diggin' it

Seventh Grave and No Body by Darynda Jones

Twelve. Twelve of the deadliest beasts ever forged in the fires of hell have escaped onto our plane, and they want nothing more than to rip out the jugular of Charley Davidson and serve her lifeless, mangled body to Satan for dinner. So there’s that. But Charley has more on her plate than a mob of testy hellhounds. For one thing, her father has disappeared, and the more she retraces his last steps, the more she learns he was conducting an investigation of his own, one that has Charley questioning everything she’s ever known about him. Add to that an ex-BFF who is haunting her night and day, a rash of suicides that has authorities baffled, and a drop-dead sexy fiancé who has attracted the attentions of a local celebrity, and Charley is not having the best week of her life.

A tad north of hell, a hop, skip, and a jump past the realm of eternity, is a little place called Earth, and Charley Davidson, grim reaper extraordinaire, is determined to do everything in her power to protect it.

We’re doomed.

Rate & take

I am so into this series, and if I don't pump the brakes I will be out of books before I know it. But I just can't slow down for anything, not sleep, not work. Nothing! Oh but the pain of separation later is so worth all the enjoyment I am having right now.

Power packed graves

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

Sometimes being the grim reaper really is, well, grim. And since Charley’s last case went so awry, she has taken a couple of months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above...or at least get dressed. It becomes clear something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she’s insane. But the more they refute the woman’s story, the more Charley believes it.

In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, is out of prison and out of Charley’s life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved.

Just when life was returning to normal, Charley is thrust back into the world of crime, punishment, and the devil in blue jeans in this hilarious fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

Fifth Grave Past the Light

Charley Davidson isn't your everyday, run-of-the-mill grim reaper. She's more of a paranormal private eye/grim reaper extraordinaire. However, she gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. To further complicate matters, Reyes is her main suspect in an arson case. Charley has vowed to stay away from him until she can find out the truth...but then dead women start appearing in her apartment, one after another, each lost, confused, and terrified beyond reason. When it becomes apparent that her own sister, Gemma is the serial killer's next target, Charley has no choice but to ask for Reyes's help. Arsonist or not, he's the one man alive who could protect Gemma no matter who or what came at her. But he wants something in return. Charley. All of her, body and soul. And to keep her sister safe, it is a price she is willing to pay.

Sixth Grave on the Edge

Few things in life can come between a grim reaper and her coffee, but the sexy, sultry son of Satan is one of them. Now that Reyes Farrow has asked for her hand, Charley Davidson feels it's time to learn more about his past, but Reyes is reluctant to open up. When the official FBI file of his childhood abduction lands in her lap, Charley decides to go behind her mysterious beau’s back and conduct her own investigation. Because what could go wrong?

Unfortunately, another case has fallen into her lap—one with dangerous implications. Some very insistent men want Charley to hunt down a witness who is scheduled to testify against their boss, a major player in the local crime syndicate. If Charley doesn't come up with an address in 48 hours, the people closest to her will start to disappear.

Add to that a desperate man in search of the soul he lost in a card game, a dogged mother determined to find the ghost of her son, and a beautiful, young Deaf boy haunted by his new ability to see the departed as clearly as he sees the living, and Charley has her hands full. The fact that Reyes has caught on to her latest venture only adds fuel to the inferno that he is. Good thing for Charley she's used to multi-tasking and always up for a challenge…especially when that challenge comes in the form of Reyes Farrow.

Rate & take

After book two I told myself, no more! No more full priced books for you! Yet there I was late one night perusing the Darynda Jones isle on Amazon, and lo and behold, what did I see? This little combo pack for me! The money saving part of my brain (I'll admit it has to be smaller than a pea) was overridden by the logic of saving by buying in bulk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I bought it and hugged it - mentally of course, as I did not want to break my Kindle - and got right to reading. Only, every once in while I got stumped. They were speaking of things that had already happened...puzzling. I was still having a great time and making out what the action was all about, so I stayed in my happy reading bubble. When I did come up for air I realized in my zeal to save money I had forgotten to see which book I actually should be in. Turns out in my buying frenzy I never bought or read book book three in the series, and by this time I was way too invested in the current plot line to let go and back track. Instead I just used the authors excellent skills at explaining past plot points to guide me out of the unknown territories.

This is reading bliss folks! Go forth and find some reading bliss for you too.

All gravy

Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

If you hang around with dead people, life can get pretty complicated. Take it from Charley Davidson, part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper. Complicated is her middle name. The deceased find her very sparkly. Demons find her irresistible. And one entity in particular wants to seduce her in every way possible.

When Charley and Cookie (her best friend/receptionist) have to track down a missing woman, the case is not quite as open and shut as they anticipate. Cookie's friend Mimi disappeared five days earlier. Mimi then sends Cookie a cryptic message telling Cookie to meet her at an nearby coffee shop. The coffee is brewing, but Mimi's still missing. There is, however, a clue Mimi left on the bathroom wall: a woman's name. Mimi's husband explains to them that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old high school friend had been murdered. The same woman whose name Mimi had scribbled on the bathroom wall.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He's left his body because he's being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can't let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they'll have a portal to heaven...well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.

Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Can she keep those she loves out of harm's way? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel her as she does?

Rate & take

I feel like we have hit a nice cruising altitude with this series. The characters have been established and are now further developing. The sassy quips from the female lead no longer feel forced, and the plot intrigue just keeps me reading right past my bedtime.

I devour these books, they could each be 3 times longer and still not enough for me. 

On the good foot

 

 

 

First Grave on the Right  by Darynda Jones

 

 

 

 

 

This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can't she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

 

 

 

 

Rate & take

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader's Note: I kept this book lingering on my Amazon wish list for, like, months. It sounded good, it was well rated, it's just that it cost full price for the ebook edition. I'm all about the bargain, free or .99 cent books! I know they all can't be basement discounted, but I also know it can get expensive to got hooked on a series at full price. But, forked over the money I eventually did, again and again, even when my brain was screaming stop, my heart was saying, this series is like a Pringles - you can't eat (er, read) just one. That is why I wait-listed it for as long as I could. When I could not take the reading drought any longer (nothing good to read on my horizon and nothing I owned was catching my interest) I got off the bucks and got happy reading. And I am so glad I did!

This is the first book in the Charley Davidson series and currently there are 8 books, the 9th will be out in January, 2016. And large cost or no, I will be buying that book. If you do decide to read this book, and are buying an ebook, save yourself some money and buy the bundle that has books 1-3. There is also a bundle for books 4-6, which I did buy. Sadly I missed out on the first bundle because I didn't know it was available.

 

 

Charley is a bit of a Jill of all trades, she helps the local police department, has her own public investigation business, and can see/hear/talk/and touch/dead people. There are two things you can count on with Charley, she always runs into the fray to save the day, (most of the time with an ill advised half-assed plan) and she will wise crack on every step of the way. I have come to love that about her, but in this first book, and only this one, it feels like the author tried a little too hard with the quips. That is the only negative I have to say about this book. As an added bonus there is a little heat spinkled in with the danger, and sometimes the heat was the danger, but I will leave that to you to find out. For me it was pure reading fun.