This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can’t she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

With scorching-hot tension and high-octane humor, First Grave on the Right is your signpost to paranormal suspense of the highest order.

I picked up this book for a reading challenge. I had no idea what to expect — Darynda Jones grabbed me in the first chapter and held my attention until I’d neglected my work and finished reading the book. The creativity of the story — the Grim Reaper and her comfort with it — was excellent. I’m always jealous of people who can not only write a good mystery, but to add such a fun twist with the supernatural element took it to a whole new level. Add to that the easy humor, and I was hooked (sometimes it feels like the author/characters are trying to be funny; this felt natural).

I couldn’t quite give it a perfect score because Charley’s first interaction with Reyes (not sure about the spelling; I listened to it on audio) is a creepy — her attraction to him after that is a bit unsettling, but as you learn more about who they are and what they do, it can fit.

If you enjoy Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, I highly recommend this book.

*R-rated for language and sexual content (as in sex is mentioned on the first page).