Title: Third Grave Dead Ahead
Author: Darynda Jones
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Charley Davidson #3
Number of Pages: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Source: My Copy (going on the keeper shelf)
Paranormal private eye. Grim reaper extraordinaire. Whatever. Charley Davidson is back! And she’s drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake because, every time she closes her eyes, she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the parthuman, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hellbent on murder when the devil’s son just won’t give up?
When I finished this book the first words out of my mouth were: Damn, Oh damn. The ending was just that good. I was laughing and crying at the same time. I adore this series. It has snark, swoon worthy heroes and guys that make laugh out loud and love them that much more for it.
Charley Davidson is a kick butt heroine. She's a private investigator with a side job as the Grim Reaper. (yes, that Grim Reaper.) Nothing stops her or gets in her way. Not her Uncle Bob who is always watching out for by putting a tail on her, or Garrett Swopes the skip tracer who is assigned to do the job. Can I just say how much I love Swopes??? He made me laugh so hard through out this book and may have surpassed Finn from Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin Series as my favorite secondary character ever. He's just that good. I loved his top five list of things never to say to the Grim Reaper. The scene when Charley throws his cell phone into a pond and he was so mad she saw black around him made me roll with laughter. Cookie, as Charleys best friend is as equally as funny and wonderful as Swopes is. She's is Charley's right hand man, and she is as loyal as they come. While she is loyal to the core, I was pleasantly surprised to see her be as tough as Charley in some cases and do it what ever is needed to save her friend, even if it means making Charley mad.
As great as the secondary characters are in this book, the plot is just as good. This book revolves around the case of a Dr.'s wife, Teresa Yost who has gone missing. While solving this case, Charley is also working on a way to prove that Reyes, (the mysterious guy who always shows up to save her when she's in danger) is innocent of murder. This gets her into some very hot water, and some of the scenes between Charley and Reyes had me swooning over him.
What I loved most about the mysteries in the book was that while there were signs pointing to who was behind them, I always managed to be surprised by the outcome of the cases. I love being surprised by endings, and this one was a doozy.The great thing about the two mysteries Charley works on is that they introduced some great new secondary characters-like a biker gang and new ghost, as well as bringing back some old ones. I also liked how one of the questions I had left over from book two was answered in this one, and gave some great foreshadowing of events to come for Charley without giving anything away.
This series just keeps getting better and better and I can't wait for book four so I can drool over Swopes and Reyes some more. I was going to list my favorite quotes, but I devoured this book too fast to keep track of them. :) Darynda Jones writes Urban Fantasy books that are fun, droolworthy and unforgettable.
Barrons Hero Hotness Meter: Super, Super, Super, Super, Super High (can I add another Super, lol?)
Curran Crush Meter: High (there isn't enough room for all the supers proceeding high)
Martini Sigh Meter: High
Rhiannon Kick Ass Heroine Meter: Super, Super, Super, Super High
Double Cross Curse Meter: High
and as much as I love Finn, I love Swopes just as much so we now have:
and as much as I love Finn, I love Swopes just as much so we now have:
Finn/Swopes Sidekick Meter: High
And Introducing.....
The Swopes and Cookie lol Meter: SUPER High!!!
