Saturday, February 9, 2013

Second Grave on the Left Review

Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones

 Take it from Charley Davidson, part-time P.I. and full-time Grim Reaper. 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 slash receptionist, have to track down a missing woman, the case is not quite as open and shut as they anticipate. Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally.) has left his corporeal 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? 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?


4.5 out of 5 stars 

Second Grave on the Left is the second book in the Charley Davidson series. The review for book 1 is here.


Cookie's friend, Mimi, is missing and Charley isn't the only one looking for her. There are several groups who are also looking for the missing woman and are willing to kill to get to her first. On top of that, Reyes is injured and hiding from her. He won't tell her where his body is and she has to find it before he lets himself die.

Charley is a lot like she was in the first book of the series, but a little less petulant. Even though I liked her in the first book, I found her more likeable in this one. She also seemed more vulnerable with her feelings, especially with her family, even though we got a lot more family back story in the first book. 

What I missed in this book that I liked in the first book was her interaction with the departed. While there was some of that in her two side stories, her main case was not a murder but a missing person and any deaths involved with it did not lead to any ghostly encounters.

The secondary characters that were not as developed in book one were more developed in book two. I particularly thought Garrett was well developed. I also liked the development of her family, even though it wasn't all good. The only one that didn't feel all that fleshed out was her stepmother.

As for Reyes... well, I'm still not sure how I feel about him. While Charley sees plenty of outside evidence that he's actually a good person, she doesn't get to experience it first hand. Outside of incorporeal sexy time, he just kept threatening her and anyone she had looking for him. Still, my feelings about Reyes don't hurt my enjoyment of the books.

I liked book two even better than the first one. I don't think I've enjoyed a book series as much as this one in a while. I even went out and bought Darynda Jones's teen book.

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