Title: Second Grave on the Left
Author: Darynda Jones
Series: Charley Davidson, #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (Imprint of Macmillan)
Date Published: August 16th, 2011
Edition: Hardcover
Rating:
Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper Extraordinaire, is back in this sexy, suspenseful novel of supernatural shenanigans
When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.
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. And if they 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? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?
My Review:
After reading First Grave on the Right, I was instantly hooked. Charley is a sarcastic and fun heroine that quickly made it to the top of my favorite heroines list. In Second Grave on the Left, Charley is still her good ol’ sarcastic Grim Reaper self and it was fun to jump back into this world with her.
In this book, Charley has some more cases and mysteries to solve. Her friend Cookie’s friend Mimi has gone missing and Cookie has asked begged Charley to help find her. This leads them to a big mystery surrounding Mimi and several people she went to high school with. While her old classmates are turning up dead, Charley and Cookie are frantically trying to find Mimi before that fate befalls her as well. In the meantime, Charley is trying to find Reyes, who, after escaping prison has gone completely missing. His incorporeal self refuses to tell her where he is, but with his life at stake, Charley refuses to take no for an answer.
So this was another fun Charley Davidson novel. I really enjoyed it and laughed out loud many-a-times. Charley’s personality is hilarious and I just love her. These stories, while housing mystery and crime solving, I find to be quite light and fun, so if that’s the kind of read you’re looking for then I think you’ll enjoy these.
Some things I didn’t like are the whole Reyes/Charley thing. It’s hard to get into it without spoiling, but I want more of THEM. Together them. There’s practically no romance at this point, but it feels like we’re right on the edge of it. So I really wish we could see some more romance between those two. I know this is an Urban Fantasy, so it won’t be primary, but some kisses here and there wouldn’t hurt! :] The other thing that I find is a bit lacking is the storylines. While Charley’s personality and the humor goes a long way in keeping these entertaining, I think that the plots in these books could be taken up a notch and made to be a bit more exciting. Then again, that might take away from them being light and fun novels. I’m not sure, but it just would be nice to have something bigger with each of the storylines.
Overall though, these are awesome. They’re really fun and entertaining and as if I haven’t raved about her enough, Charley is awesome. She has such spunk and personality and she makes me laugh so much. But the ending! Gah the ending. This was definitely a bit of a cliffhanger. When does the next one come out? February? Boo! I can’t wait to see what happens next!
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