Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson) by Darynda Jones

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

(Synopsis from Goodreads)
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.

This review will not contain spoilers for this book, but do not read if you haven't read books 1 and 2 in this series.

Another wonderful installment in Darynda Jones' hilarious and sexy Charley Davidson series!

Third Grave Dead Ahead begins almost where it left off - with Reyes back in jail and pisssssed at Charley. Since she bound him to his corporeal body he is stuck in jail and can't visit her incorporeally...except that he can. Every time Charley falls asleep he visits her, which would be HOT except that his visits include a lot of angry stares and growly words (and some other stuff that's not quite as bad...). So Charley has been drinking coffee nonstop and sleeping minimally, which makes for some very funny moments throughout the book.

Charley is as snarky as ever, although I felt like she had more serious moments in this book than the other two, and I didn't mind those at all. Charley has heart, and its important for Darynda to balance that with all Charley's craziness. There are also more Reyes moments in Third Grave, and I mean real Reyes moments, not just incorporeal Reyes moments. To keep from being spoiler-rific, I won't give any more details about that, but just know that all the Reyes that was missing from Second Grave is made up for in this one.

Of course there is actually an official investigation that Charley and Cookie are handling  (Oh Cookie, how I've missed you as Charley's 'straight man'!), and as always these plot points are just as interesting as the Charley-Reyes stuff. Charley is looking for a missing woman (isn't she always) and that brings in some of the best side characters in the genre: Angel, Rocket, and Garrett.

If you loved the first two books in this series you will be thoroughly pleased with this one. All of the things that make this one of my favorite series are here - Charley's silly one liners and ridiculous train of thought, Reyes' hotness and enough Reyes scenes to whet your whistle, a great main plot, and secondary characters that I love love love. This book also moves along the continuing story of Reyes and Charley, and we learn even more about his childhood.

If you are new to Charley's world I highly recommend checking out this series. It is one of a kind and a can't-put-it-down read!

***This review is based on an advance copy of the book.