Great installment in this series, number 3. Read the others first. Charlie is just as snarky in this one, but story arc moves along nicely. We find out a lot about people from Charlie's past, her family and Reyes. I'm pretty angry at some of these people right now, I understand a father's concern for his daughter, but he set her up for her career and now wants her to just change it, and the way he's going about it is just wrong. New characters are introduced and I'm looking forward to more of their involvement in Charlie's life. Friendships keep getting stronger, and the background cases she's working are getting better with each book. I'm really liking this series.

Charley's back and funnier than ever, since she's sleep deprived. And she's bickering with Reyes because of it - since thanks to Charley, his soul is jailed in his body. Of course, taking matters into his own hands, his body is no longer in jail. He and Charley are (separately) on the hunt for his father, who it turns out Reyes didn't kill after all. And on top of this, Charley's spidey sense is on full alert when a doctor comes to her to investigate the disappearance of his wife. Sensing his culpability in her disappearance, Charley begins investigating on her own. Not to be outdone, all her normal sidekicks are back and in rare form, including Cookie, Garrett, Ubie and Angel. While this story is just as funny as its predecessors it does delve into some sadness and regret as well, making it the best story for me so far in the series.

These books in this series just get better and better

Charley's addiction to coffee ,her hysterical dialogue with Cookie combined with her need to stay awake .........…. to keep sexy Reyes out of her dreams - make for a fun/fun/fun read .
Even Mr Wong in the corner of her flat makes for a giggle !
Charley's day job as a P.I. lands her a missing person case ………… but the solving of the case is secondary to the great characters , the pain in the a*** men in her life and the highly entertaining dialogue .
The story is all about Charley and just how much trouble she always seems to get into ……. and just barely out of !!
A great read …… which means the next book in the series is on my to read list asap.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own .

Charley keeps getting better and better. But these novels need to come with a warning. Do not read in public due to sudden outburst of laughing.

The third book is full of simultaneous goals. First of all, we get the case of the week, which is a doctor who has a missing wife. Then, we get the bombshell that the man that Reyes has been in jail for a decade for murdering is alive. Third, those Rottweilers she has to avoid when she goes to see Rocket at the asylum are dead; she has to figure out who poisoned them.

I generally find Darynda Jones's writing to be an entertaining if not 100% well-written read. However, I've noticed a rather annoying trend in her books.

She has a tendency to repeat information well... repeatedly. After reading Second Grave on the Left, I jumped right into the third book in the series only to find myself rolling my eyes in annoyance. She repeats what happened in the last book in so much detail that I could have skipped over reading that book altogether. Not to mention the fact that she spews the same facts about each character all over again in EVERY SINGLE BOOK. Copy and paste, anyone? I've heard of continuity but this is beyond the pale.

How many times must I read that Charley is a PI who got into the business because she spent time helping her father and uncle--who happens to be a cop--solve murders with her ability to speak with the departed? How many times must I read about Cookie, her neighbor and secretary who she pays too little? How many times must I read about Reyes Farrow's past with his father and the abuse he suffered in order to protect his sister? These details are filtered in repeatedly and it's quite unnecessary. I feel like readers will remember these details from book to book. Why waste 30 to 60 pages rehashing old details. As amusing as it is to hear about Mr. Wong who perpetually stands in the corner staring at the wall, why must I reread that he never speaks and she knows nothing about him? Simply put, I like the series enough but I find myself skipping over the parts that drone on and on about NOTHING or details we've been introduced to before.

I love this series as a whole. Daryna Jones has perfected her storytelling to where all parts flow together flawlessly. Would recommend!

“She was really happy when I got there. I’m pretty sure she was suicidal when I left.”
“You do have that effect on people.”

The series just got better!

Secondary cases are more interesting and the the primary story of Reyes is unleashed. The greater story arch of war is proceeding with additional characters and a dog!

But most importantly Charley has had been made to grow up and lose some of that annoying smugness.

“I felt as though he had taken something very valuable away from me. An innocence. Or possibly an arrogance. Either way.”

This bodes well. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I'm loving this series so much! Great fun, fantastic characters and totally addictive reading. Bring on book four.

So far so not disappointed with each ending having me scramble to the next one as I did with this one too. We find Charley really has her plate full from Reyes on down or up depending on outlook. This character is one that for the first time in ages has me following her so closely along with her friend. Her relationship develops even further with Reyes. Another missing person on horizon must be found. Another tidbit on her uniqueness too will be given. We will also see she has a knack for having guys give her the zinger too. Our craving will be fed just a bit enough to keep us hoping for more. Her dad though I finally figured out kinda makes me sad though. Big climax though one to curl our toes and having us scramble once again to the next one leaving scoot marks.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
Third Grave Dead Ahead is the third installment of the Charley Davidson series. It shouldn't be read as a standalone or out of series order. However, I suspect once a reader gets the foundation of the series, it would be easy to read later books without confusion.

Charley is the grim reaper, and she's dealing with issues on many fronts. The only thing that is guaranteed for this private investigator, someone will attempt to kill her every step of the way.

Polar opposites drawn to one another, the son of the devil is angry with Charley, which adds an angsty, yummy bite to the novel. Charley bound Reyes to his corporeal form, which puts a damper on his abilities. But she doesn't know how to unbind him, since there isn't a grim reaper handbook.

Solving a case of a missing wife commissioned by the husband she thinks is guilty, Charley is off on a wild goose chase, interconnecting many different cases. It's action and puns on every page, to where I could barely get a breath in there somewhere.

Charley is avoiding Reyes by mainlining coffee and refusing to sleep, which is making her emotionally unstable and dangerous to her own longevity.

A knife-wielding child ghost, convicts, missing person, the son of the devil, Mistress Marigold's surprising identity, a biker gang, a cuddly watch dog, a BFF named Cookie, a cop family, a hottie on her tail, a mine, and an abandoned asylum, all makes for one heck of a ride. The emotional gut-punches had me flipping the pages quickly, where it comes to love, loss, betrayal, and well-meaning family members.

That ending nearly put me on my knees, which was hard to read but I couldn't put the book down. The character growth Charley experienced in the course of a few short chapters was life-altering.

Highly recommend this series as a whole. I actually have read half of book four already, simply because I didn't want to put it down to write this review. The next book is even better than the previous one.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
In this third book, Charley investigates a relatively simple missing persons case while her personal life and Grim Reaper responsibilities get increasingly complicated.

The missing persons case in this book feels quite similar to the missing persons case in the second book. Once again, she is looking for a missing wife – only this time she actually suspects the woman’s husband. It’s an engaging investigation but the real excitement in the story is Charley’s search for Reyes’ stepfather. I enjoyed the way Charley and Reyes’ relationship continues to develop and I like the way Charley’s powers continue to develop.

Once again, Charley’s friends and relatives are just as entertaining as Charley herself. I love Cookie and there are moments when I felt Charley had better chemistry with Garrett than Reyes. I love Charely’s new biker friends and I’m interested to see where her relationships with her father and uncle will go.

Other than a couple of heart stopping twists at the end of this story (that I really didn’t see coming), this series is starting to settle into a comfortable pattern that is already feeling a little bit formulaic. I kinda like the formula – the series feels like a familiar weekly TV drama that I can enjoy without my brain needing to work too hard. I’m already looking forward to book four.


Dawn – ☆☆☆☆
In this instalment of the series, Charley is trying her best to avoid Reyes. This means that she really has to try and stay awake. That leads to her basically running off of coffee and sarcasm.

The plot is most definitely thickening in this series.

The ending of the book was a total WTF moment for me. I really felt for Charley at the end of this book, I can't wait to see how it plays out in the next book.

The 'Graves series continues to be good; I am looking forward to the next book, and the next and the next...!

I like how well the humor and suspense always balance out in this series.So far I'm loving the adventure and getting to know the characters who are awesome. I love catching up with them Cookie ,Reyes especially Charley who takes no Junk. I highly recommend the Charley Davidson series!

The third book picks up right after the second, in “Charley” time, we’ve managed to move forward about a month, and here we learn a bit more about her, her friends and even the struggles she’s had with Reyes: now coming to her every time she closes her eyes for sleep. Adding to this strangeness, he’s furious with her for binding him, and she’s finding the intensity from his anger and their combustible chemistry to be too much. But a new case has come to her: a guilty husband wanting her to look into his missing wife, a not so hidden tail on her placed by Ubie, and the question that Earl, the man Reyes is in jail for murdering just might not be dead after all, and this has all the hallmarks of a never-ending set of adventures, all with Charley seeming to run off in multiple directions with apparent cluelessness, even with the little nudges and assistance she gets from her otherworldly helpers. Add in a strange message from Mistress Marigold, a nun waiting in her office and a warning that she’s got a guardian coming for her protection in roughly 48 hours, and things were never quite so strange around her. When you mix in a little girl with a death-grip on a knife appearing out of nowhere and not looking Charley in the eye, she’s battling her need to stay awake with more threats on her life, her father’s determination that she quit the PI business, and multiple leads on a husband who has a history of wives and their family members turning up dead, there has never been so much going on to both tickle and tempt her ADD.

And what a fun ride this was – a guilty husband with tempting paper trails that all seem to go nowhere -but for the missing woman’s brother and sister, a need to get to Rocket in the abandoned asylum, now populated by a biker gang and patrolled by Rottweilers is almost her undoing, as Rocket won’t let her in, she makes friends with a Rottie, the last of the three left after they were poisoned, and some questions and answer time with the bikers – and she’s off to meet her sister at an out of the way convenience store, where she’s responsible for aiding Reyes in the second step of his plan to escape and hunt down his former guardian, Earl, the man who tortured and abused him for most of his young life. From one crazy moment to the next, peppered with Charley’s need for caffeine and Cookie’s help in the search trying to find the missing woman, the missing not-murdered, not-dead Earl, and the continual pushes from her father to stop being a PI, and more than one Charley’s life is in danger, and while she still hasn’t learned everything she can do, she’s getting closer. More important than finding the answers and people here though is Charley’s own revelations – having been used as bait by her father in the last book, and now by Reyes in this one, with her believing that Garrett is dead as a result of Earl’s bullets, she’s now convinced that those who aren’t using her for their own ends are going to betray her – a sharp comeuppance for the girl who blunders into situations usually with the best of intentions, trying to do some good in the world. It will take some doing (I hope) to discourage her from wanting to make a difference, even as she knows hat often things go pear shaped, but her heart is bruised (as is her body) and something will have to give.

I received an eBook copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aaw/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

This book was fabulous! I can honestly say I loved every single page, and not because of Charley's severe coffee addiction. That's just a bonus.

I loved this book because Charley gets funnier, Reyes shows more of his hot devilish side, Cookie and Charley have the most hysterical dialogue, and Wong is...still in the corner.

The third instalment in Darynda Jones' paranormal mystery series with a serious side of romance will not disappoint fans of the previous books. Grim Reaper Charley is once again on the hunt for a missing woman, but this time she's already sure she knows who is behind it. A bigger problem is her inability to sleep- every time she closes her eyes,she dreams of Reyes, her lover, who happens to be the son of Satan, and also a portal to hell.. Since she bound him to his body, she's been trying to figure out how to release him, but fed up of waiting he stages a prison break. Can Charley and Reyes prove his innocence before the law catches up with them both?
Once again the fun and sarcasm of Charley as a character shines, and it was great to explore Reyes a little more, seeing him through the eyes of his friends and learning more about his terrible and tragic past added some needed depth to the character.
I look forward to continuing the series and seeing how the complicated dynamics between the lead characters pan out.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Charley attempting to solve all of her cases with no sleep and a hostile Reyes is challenging. Add to that a biker gang taking over the asylum where she goes to visit Rocket and her ever evolving abilities. What I am really enjoying are the T-shirt quotes! I want to know where I can get them. Seriously if Darynda ever gives up writing she should market the shirts. I am always on the edge of my sea waiting for the next book.

This was another wild adventure for Grim Reaper Charley Davidson. With the addition of new characters that I’m itching to find out how they play into Charley’s future escapades, there was also a lot of angst between her and Reyes. Things are rocky in romance land for this dysfunctional couple and just when you think they’re going to work things out…well, this is Charley we’re talking about so things usually go sideways.

The humor here continues to be just as sharp as each book before it and the dynamic between Charley and her best friend Cookie highlights the quirkiness that is an essential part of Charley’s personality. The case she’s working on this time has a bit of a twist I didn’t see coming. Another twist at the end almost made me tear up.

You won’t end this book with the thought it’s safe to stop the series at this point. Instead, like myself, you’ll be anxious to go right into the next one. Which I’ll be doing ASAP.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Poor Charley, forced to stay awake or be caught up in sizzling passion with one ticked off son of Satan! Darynda Jones is back and she has whipped up more giggles, more belly laughs and more predicaments for Charley to try to dig herself out of!

Not only has Charley turned up the snark, but she is showing just how dedicated she is to her P.I. profession, not to mention her “real” job as the Grim Reaper. Hey, even the Grim Reaper has parent troubles and it seems Charley is going to need a lot of caffeine to make it through this book and her latest mystery to solve…

Fun reading, great mystery and some devilish steam, not to mention the catchy title, make THIRD GRAVE DEAD AHEAD another great escape from reality.

I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin's Press!

So good! Always so good. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get into this series. Darynda Jones is a snarky genius with a talent for writing sexy, engaging plots. I can't get over how good this series is.