Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson 2) by Darynda Jones

Hello to all,


                     If you remember normally this month topic, even if this time is not my top priority, is books with ghosts and if there is one series that center around that topic it's the one written by Darynda Jones. I've read book one before and it was enjoyable enough that i got all the other books released so far but i hadn't been reading them so  it's on programm for this month, among other titles that are getting a lot of attention from me lately^^.

 So today here is the second book in the Charley Davidson series: Second Grave on the Left.

Happy reading!

Publisher: Piatkus Books

Publication: 2012

ISBN:  0749956097

Genre: urban fantasy
Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: mild
Public: 18+

Source: bought

Short description from goodreads :

 "If you hang around with dead people, life can deliver a whole world of trouble."

""
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?

My opinion:

          I know this series has a lot of success and I will perhaps end loving it but so far I do enjoy it but nothing more… I like it yes but I do not love it, strange as it can be. This book has action humour ( and I did smile at some part) is quite original with so many different ghosts ( some quite perverted^^;;) and I spend a good time reading it yes but  it’s not memorable either for me and I’m not feeling like jumping on book 3 without wait or rereading this one soon.

This book starts one week after the event in “First grave to the right” and the continuity is perfect..; in fact if you started reading this one without book 1 first you would probably understand it quite well since the author made quite a lot of recapitulations but still for the sake of it better to read a series in order.

This time Charley has 2 investigations going on… one about a missing person, surrounded by strange deaths,  and one about a dead man in a car…all that trying to find Reyes….the action is fast paced and she is nearly killed several time but the investigations in themselves are interesting, I really enjoy to see how she is trying to solve them. I was also surprised a little at some elements. Now I found Cookie too funny this time, the way she is loyal to her friend is cute but how she freak about the ghost in her trunk or the one of the little boy in her apartment and at the same time can’t keep her cool when interrogated or in presence of some “ strange” characters is really too funny.

I do have an idea of what are those guy ^^ but we will see if we get confirmation in the rest of the series because this time we don’t get more than some directions (those sound so evident though but I guess Charley is really obtuse) Charley is learning more about Reyes, she learn what people think he is but as to know the truth from the rumours it’s difficult even more when he drops gravely injured and then try to kill her. That’s the thing with Him … he sound in love deeply in love since he escaped hell just to be with her and he does save her again and again but at the same time he doesn’t tell her all about him or her powers, threatens to kill her numerous time and hurt her on more than one occasion. I mean how he can tell her not to care about him, not to look for him when it’s him who appears to her when he is tortured and bleeding… he saw her grow so he should know she couldn’t resist helping. I have difficulty to understand him and perhaps it’s the reason I can’t really get into the book completely.

Now I was also bothered by Charley’s father… I really didn’t like what he did and the fact she forgive so easily sound strange to me…not 100% his intents were pure even less after his question I mean he doesn’t know about Reyes so he can’t count on that and with such a risky situation…. After all she has done… he lost all my interest, I don’t care about him at all and I’m sorry she goes all family hugging . But I did enjoy the sister part.

We finish with many more questions than we started with, Charley still ignores what she can do exactly, Reyes is sulking ( oki he is always), and we have a cliffhanger… not a strong one or I guess if you are really into this series it count seem to be a big one yes but for me it just left me angry it finished like that.

So if you love urban fantasy and investigation with a romance part included but not predominant this is a good series, you could even become addicted to it but for me I need more at least until now. If you want stories with ghosts, but not horror ones or too freaky ones, then this series is for you^^.

Score:  3,5/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

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