Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

Charley Davidson, Book 3

Synopsis: Charley Davidson—grim reaper extraordinaire, private investigator . . . meh—is practicing her profession under the influence, caffeine and copious amounts of it, due to an extreme desire to induce insomnia. Every time she closes her eyes, Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan, is there. Only thing is, he’s a tad peeved. She did bind for all eternity, so it’s hard blame him. But 13 days without a wink is bound to bring out the crazy in a girl. So, when a man hires her to find his wife, Charley accepts the job with one goal in mind: Put the man behind bars, and not the wet kind. She can sense the guilt waft off him and vows to find the woman’s body and prove he’s a murderer.

In the meantime, Reyes is back in prison and none too happy about it . . . so Charley thinks, until she is carjacked by the dark-haired rake, who swears the very man he went to prison for killing is not only alive, but close by. And he wants Charley to find him.

While a visit to her old friend Rocket sheds no light on Reyes’s situation, Charley finds out the man’s wife is still alive and time is running out. Finding her before she dies would be a miracle, but she has to try. Together with the help of a fashion-impaired receptionist named Cookie, Charley sets out to bring the bad guys to justice. She just hopes Reyes is not one of them. And that she’s not hallucinating from her self-induced bout with insomnia.
Our review: It’s always a pleasure to read a Charley’s adventure; she is an amazing woman with a fiery temperament! I really enjoyed the two first books and I couldn’t wait to get into this new story. When Marcela encouraged me to read it, I wasn’t able to wait more and I can say I thank her a lot because I really loved this third novel.
So many things happen in this volume and it’s impossible to be bored. Plus we can assist to a lot of surprises we didn’t except at the beginning. Charley has to investigate about the disappearance of a woman and she is sure that the culprit is her husband. Willing to prove what she thinks, she gets into a story more complicated than she would have known. To this we can add Reyes who isn’t really happy to be bounded to his body by our heroine and well we understand it. Moreover, their attraction doesn’t decrease at all and it’s always interesting to see them together, mainly when Charley tries to resist. (Well can we call it ‘resist’?). I have to say that not sleeping isn’t her best idea for avoiding him. Then he escapes from Prison and it becomes even more complicated. And when he asks her to find the man for whom he was accused of murder, our heroine can’t let him down and she will do everything to help him even if it’s very dangerous. But it’s not finished because she has to deal with an attempt to murder on a dog from a Bikers gang. Yes, Charley will have a lot of things to deal with, and even more than that.
I can say I was very surprised by this gang; we start to enjoy them little by little for our pleasure. All the characters are quite intriguing and I hope we will see them again in the fourth volume. Donovan the leader is a character I really liked. He is different from some other characters in the series and it was very interesting to see him with our heroine.
What can I say about Garrett? This character is here from the first novel. He has to follow Charley all along the story, assisting to all the events for his misfortune sometimes; indeed our young woman isn’t always really nice with him. Moreover, it was really fun to follow their conversations all the time. I think that Charley wants him to be crazy (yes, yes it’s possible!).
This series is always explosive and surprising. The rhythm is the same all along the book and it’s very difficult to put it down until the end. The entire story is very well written and Darynda Jones has managed to create a wonderful book. It’s a series we can only be happy to discover and I can’t wait to read the sequel. If you don’t know these books yet, I strongly recommend them, I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed.
I was very surprised by the end, I had a moment of panic I confess but I’m finally happy. We need to be afraid before the end, don’t we? So fun!
I was eager to read the third installment of the adventures of our favorite Grim Reaper / private investigator. Well once again, I am really not disappointed! What a pleasure to find the crazy world of Darynda Jones and all the characters who contribute to build it! And although it is a bit darker than what the author had accustomed us at the beginning, I must say that I loved this book. There’s action, twists, revelations and new characters! In short, it’s a wonderful book! 
In this third novel we find Charley completely exhausted as she has not slept for 13 days! Whose fault is that? Reyes of course. He is furious against her since she tied his etheric body to his physical body (i.e. book 2) and did not find anything better than to invade her dreams when she closes her eyes to make her know that. She no longer has a moment of respite so she tries to stay awake at all costs, even to drink a lot of coffee (her favorite drink), something that is not easy to do. And yet, she will have to stay awake and focused if she wants to solve two new cases. Firstly, a renowned doctor asks her to investigate about the disappearance of his wife. Then there is Reyes… He managed to escape from prison and also decided to use her services. Add to this a biker gang who surprised her while visiting Rocket at the old asylum and you will get a glimpse of the days waiting Charley. 
I found this third book was better than the previous ones although darker. Oh do not worry, Charley’s humor is still there, and then we must say that she really has a talent for getting into situations rather comical or embarrassing. But things start to get really serious for Charley in this volume. She will have to focus on these two cases and solve them quickly if she wants that the whole story does not end tragically. She will once again face danger but also face terrible ordeals in this book, especially at the end. 
Her relationship with Reyes is still intense but complicated. There is still some suspicion among the young woman since she discovered who he really was. Regarding her family, Charley continues to get closer her sister Gemma and she does not hesitate to confide in her. However, her relationship with her father has been deteriorated since the previous book, and we wonder if they will reconcile or not. Fortunately she is supported by uncle Bob. He does not show his feelings much, but it is clear he adores his niece and he is very protective towards her. Garrett also is still present and I confess that I am really starting to appreciate this character. Bickering with our heroine is still hilarious and I cannot wait to see him in the next book to see how their relationship will evolve. Cookie stays true to herself. She still supports Charley whatever happens. Among the new characters I liked the biker gang, especially their leader Donovan concerning Mistress Marigold, I confess that she made me laugh a lot! It was really well found. 
I really enjoyed this third book. I did not expect all these twists at the end, many questions concerning Charley’s power remain unanswered and now I can’t wait to read book 4 for more details.

23 thoughts on “Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

  1. I’m not kidding — I think everyone who’s read this series is in love with it, and it only makes me even more eager to start! x) I’m glad that this installment in the series doesn’t leave room for boredness and that the cast is made of such awesome characters! I’m intrigued about Garrett especially. It sounds like he and Charley would be fun to watch if they were in the same room! 😉

    Really awesome review, Mel! 🙂 <3

  2. Melliane! I love this review!!! It gives me so much to look forward to. I just finished the first two books and I had a blast with them! They are so fun!!! And honestly, how can Charley resist Reyes? Oh, and I’m still kind of hoping that Garret and Cookie will get together. 🙂

    • I hope you’ll like it as much as I do. I was so glad you enjoyed the two first ones. Lol I’m sure she really can’t. You’ll see it’s quite impossible! I still don’t know what I really want for Garrett. There is always her “uncle” for Cookie too.

  3. OMG You are a sweetie! Thank you for mentioning me 🙂
    I agree completely with your review and your take on Donovan, I can’t wait to see what Darynda has in stock for him.
    This book was awesome, I laugh out loud so much while reading it that my husband was looking at me weirdly. 😉
    I’m very happy you loved this book as much as I did.

    • thank you so much for making me read it! You were right, I really needed to do it lol. It’s a pleasure! Now it’s so difficult to wait for the fourth. I’m so curious about everyhting.

  4. YEAH!! I freaking love this series it’s hilarious and so much fun! I really enjoyed this third one I think it’s my favorite of all–or at least tied with the first. I have yet to read the 4th but I can’t wait to get some more Charley sass! >.<

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