First Grave on the Right – 3 stars
Second Grave on the Left – 3.5 stars
Third Grave Dead Ahead – 4 stars
Charley Davidson is a private investigator in Albuquerque. She’s also the Grim Reaper. She can speak every language in the world, she pretty much remembers every thing that’s happened in her life, from the moment she was born, and dead people pass through her as a portal to the next world. Because she constantly sees dead people, she’s been able to help her father (now a former cop) and uncle (still a cop) solve crimes since she was a little girl. It’s much easier to solve a murder if the dead person can tell you who did the deed. Her office is above her father’s bar, and her best friend and next door neighbour is her extremely over qualified secretary. Charley loves coffee, slogans with cheesy sayings on them (most chapters begin with said cheesy lines), and has a dreadful relationship with her stepmother.
As the first book begins, she’s been having super sexy dream encounters with a mystery guy. Who sort of reminds her of the scary dark presence that’s been shadowing her on and off since the day she was born, and who’s even saved her life on occasion. As Charley’s dream encounters continue, she starts getting tiny hints as to who her shadowy seducer may be, and she tries to discover his true identity while also trying to solve the murder of three lawyers.
In the second book, Cookie, Charley’s secretary and best friend drags her out of bed in the middle of the night because a close friend of hers has disappeared, and sent a text asking Cookie and Charley to help. As they start investigating, it turns out that several people Mimi (the missing woman) went to high school with, have started turning up dead recently. Reyes Farrow, Charley’s mysterious life-long protector, has abandoned his corporeal body and is determined to let it die. He’s not at all impressed when Charley is determined to track said body down to save it, as he claims the dangerous entities that have control over it, are trying to trap her, and want nothing more than to see her dead.
In the third book, Charley is doing everything in her power to stay awake. Every time she falls asleep, Reyes is there, accusing and upset because of what she did at the end of book 2. Hence, Charley pretty much mainlines caffeine and does her best to never sleep. She’s trying to solve a missing person’s case, prove that an arrogant doctor is a ruthless murderer, and the less sleep she has, the crazier and more unpredictable things become. Reyes also wants her to prove that Earl Walker, the man he was sent to prison for killing, is still alive, so he can clear his name.
My actual review is on my blog.
Cannonball Read V 