First Grave on the Right

First Grave on the Right

by Darynda Jones

Charley Davidson is a triple threat.  She's a decent bartender, a decent private investigator, and a kick ass Grim Reaper.

She's the bright shining portal through which the dead travel to get to the other side.

She's also got a ghost helper, a hover-ghost in the corner of her apartment, and a mysterious stranger who invaders her dreams in very naughty ways and saves her from danger.

But being a kick ass grim reaper with a wicked sense of humor isn't all fun and games.  She has to deal with peeping tom ghosts who won't cross over, abusive husbands of her PI clients, physical attacks, murders, and more events that require her special skills.

If only she could stop getting the crap beat out of her long enough to solve the mystery that is the Big Bad who seems to show up at the most perilous times, as well as solve the murders of 3 lawyers from the same firm!  Maybe today will be that day.  Or maybe tomorrow.

Final thoughts:  I LOVE Charley.  She is like the @TheBloggess version of a PI and I really enjoyed her voice.  "I did that thing where you scratch your eyebrow and flip someone off at the same time.  I'm good at multitasking like that." "You pretty much annoy me and thus can kiss my ass..." "...I contemplated possibilities for why all three lawyers might have stayed behind instead of crossing over. My calculations--allowing for a 12 percent margin of error, based on the radius of the corresponding confidence interval and the surgeon general's warning--concluded that they probably didn't stay behind for the tacos."  Her level of snark is almost unmatched.  My only real problem is that the author pretty much just drops you into Charley's world.  You don't get a few pages to get some exposition and back story; you're just THERE.  It's takes a bit to get settled in, but the ride is worth it.

Rating: 4/5