Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson, #3)

by Darynda Jones

"Paranormal private eye. Grim reaper extraordinaire. Whatever. Charley Davidson is back! And she's drinking copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake because, every time she closes her eyes, she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the parthuman, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hellbent on murder when the devil's son just won't give up?"--

• ISBN13: 9780312360825
• Publish Date: 30 October 2012 (first published 31 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 June 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Third Grave Dead Ahead starts thirteen days after Second Grave on the Left. That's also how long Charley has gone without sleep. Whenever she nods off she somehow summons Reyes and he is not happy at all. They still have mind blowing sex, but there's anger there as well. Of course, Charley also has to take on another case. This time a doctor's wife has gone missing and Charley knows that he did it, because he's reeking of guilt. And on top of that, her father wants her to quit her job! What's a reaper to do?

Third Grave Dead Ahead didn't start off as strong for me. It felt like the author was trying to cram in way too many jokes all at once. It was a bit much and they soon lost their humor. They got funny again once the laughs were spread out amongst the plots, which got crazy toward the end and saved my rating! I wasn't sure about the missing wife mystery at first because I figured that it would go one of two ways. One, there's so much evidence against the husband, that he must have killed her, and it's just a matter of how he's gotten away with it. Two, there's so much evidence against the husband, and yet he didn't do it! Once the reveal came, I was underwhelmed, but then there's a twist! What is the matter with people?!

As for the whole Reyes mess, there's some quite emotional scenes and some eye-roll worthy ones. As we know, he isn't happy that Charley bound him to his body and that he's back in prison. Well, he's powerful enough to bring about the apocalypse so I doubted he would stay barred for long. He also sets up Charley for a side case involving the man he supposedly murdered ten years ago. The ending to that had me rolling my eyes, because it was just too unbelievable and convenient and honestly, it didn't really add much to the overall story.

The very last chapters of Third Grave Dead Ahead were great though! I totally didn't see any of that coming! I was shocked! And I was certainly glad that I had the next book on hand.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[melanchalina]

Неожиданно, но третья книга лучшая пока)
Хотя у серии и идеи куча недочетов, книги читаются прсото взахлеб, оторваться очень сложно

[Berls]

Oops forgot to mark that I finished this one and moved on to next....

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
I really enjoy how this series is progressing, Third Grave Dead Ahead moved forward with the main plot at a nice pace, and the secondary plotlines were at break-neck speed.



I always enjoy a healthy dose of Charley, and of course, Reyes and Cookie, too! In Third Grave Dead Ahead, there was a lot going on, both in the overall story arc, with Charley needing to understand exactly what she is, and all she can do. A missing person she needs to find, as well as getting in and out of the asylum now that there is a biker club in residence. One of the things that always strikes me when I read a Charley Davidson story is the strong friendship between Cookie and Charley, and I love how snarky they both are! They can always make me laugh, even when they find themselves in dire situations.

And then, of course, there is Reyes. And he definitely has his own agenda in Third Grave Dead Ahead! Only it takes a long time of Charley to figure this out, and when she does, it's almost too late. And on top of having more than one investigation going, Charley has to deal with her family - especially her dad - who wants her to quite as a PI and do something that is much safer for her. She really doesn't have that many people on her side, and I was really angry towards the end! Not at Charley, but at some of the men in her life, I would have gladly help her kick their butt and get them out of the way there.

The overall plot moved along nicely, and while I now know quite a bit more about Charley and her abilities, I have a feeling there is still much to be learned! Both because Charley doesn't know everything herself yet, and because just enough hints were dropped to make me quite anxious about the next instalment, which I really need to get to very soon.

Written in third person point of view, but still mostly from Charley's perspective, and in past tense with sarcastic and humorous dialogues, there is never a dull moment in this story. I need to get my browser window open so I can one-click the next book :) and you should get to one-clicking too, this series is amazing.



Eating wold keep me awake for at least another five minutes, and my one goal in life for the past coule of weeks was to stay awake at all costs. The alternative was exhausting.

I had hours to go before dawn. It was easier to stay awake during the day. Night was so calm and relaxing. But I couldn't let myself fall under. I'd managed to dodge sleep like it was an ex-boyfriend with herpes for almost two weeks straight. And when I didn't, I paid the price.

"You're a charmer. If anyone can get him to talk, it's you."
"Aw, thanks. And I repeat, if I die, I'm coming back to haunt you."
She thought about that a moment. "You do have a tendency to almost get murdered in the most unlikely places."

[ellieroth]

no es perfecto, pero amé cada maldita palabra

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

¿Me descuido un rato y hay tropecientos mil libros en la serie ya? Es bueno porque más de Charley y sus aventuras. Y medio preocupante porque son un montón u.u

Darynda Jones es otra de mis escritoras de seguridad, cuando siento que estoy a punto de entrar en algún tipo de bloqueo o simplemente mi cerebro necesita descansar, ella es una a las que recurro. (La otra es, hasta ahora, Kelly Oram, por si te estabas preguntando)

Retomar la esta serie me tomo casi un año, el motivo exactamente no lo sé, me digo que es porque quiero que me dure mucho y en parte es la razón. Se me hace curioso porque antes tendía a leerme series de corrido, sin parar. Daba Miedo. Supongo que es mi evolución como lectora. ¿Te ha pasado?

Third Grave Dead Ahead continúa siendo tan divertido como sus libros predecesores, creo que es el que más me ha gustado de lo que voy leyendo de la serie hasta ahora. Tiene el suficiente misterios, sensualidad y narración fluida como para que me tenga pegada al libro desde la primera página. Quiero decir, esos subtítulos/anotaciones (no sé cómo se dice D:), son para reírse a carcajadas.

Creo que lo que más gusta es que en cada libro, vamos llenando más integrantes a la pandilla. Lo que empezó en teoría con tres (Charley, Cookie y Ubie), en cada libro al menos agrega uno o más como personaje recurrente ¿Y lo mejor de todo eso? Que son personajes variados, desde razas, tamaños y habilidades. Eso sí, todos son extremadamente bellos. Obviamente no me quejo.

Sé que leo Young Adult el 90% del tiempo, pero de vez en cuando me gusta reconocer mi adultez (?) lo bueno es que las escritoras que me gustan, publican libros hasta decir basta.

Muy, muy sexy y divertido, Tercera Tumba Todo Recto era lo que necesitaba para relajarme.

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[EBookObsessed]

Charley hasn’t slept for three weeks. Every time she falls asleep, she draws an incorporeal and very pissed off Reyes to her. Hot, angry dream sex with Reyes, most of us would be taking sleeping pills.
Charley Davidson is a private investigator and grim reaper. She can speak to the departed, which makes solving their deaths so much easier. Charley sometimes works with Uncle Bob, a detective with the Albuquerque Police Department to solve crimes.

NOTE: There might be small spoilers here on the emerging relationship between Charley and Reyes since the last book. You’ve been warned.

Charley Davidson has a hard time staying focused on a normal day, but she hasn’t slept for three weeks. Sucking down obscene amounts of mocha lattes has helped, but even a supernatural being needs to sleep occasionally. Except every time she falls asleep she calls Reyes to her dreams. What woman wouldn’t want to dream about hot sex with Reyes? The one he is truly pissed off at, that’s who. To save Reyes from his suicide mission, Charley has bound Reyes’s incorporeal spirit to his corporeal body and he is one pissed off son of satan. He wants her to unbind him, but Charley doesn’t know how.

In the real world, the newly returned to prison, Reyes Farrow, has escaped once again. He believes the man he was sent to prison for killing is actually alive. Reyes wants Charley to help him find Earl Walker. Everyone is trailing Charley again waiting to see if Reyes contacts her and yet they can’t keep Charley from finding trouble.

Charley gets caught by the biker gang who have taken over the abandoned insane asylum when she tries to sneak in to visit Rocket. They make her a deal. They won’t hurt her if she can help to figure out who has been killing their guard dogs.

The on-line psychic Mistress Marigold finally tracks Charley down and she’s nothing like Charley expected. She has an unbelievable source of information that floors even the grim reaper.

Charley is also still hurt and angry with her father for setting her up as bait for a killer without so much as a warning. Everyone keeps insisting that she needs to go see him and even though she knows that something is wrong, she is not ready to put aside her hurt feelings.

Meanwhile, Garret has a case for her. A doctor’s wife is missing and he needs Charley’s help finding her. Except, Charley is pretty sure the good doctor knows more about his wife’s disappearance than he is letting on. She has no problem letting him believe she understands his plight, while she goes out to investigate him further.

THOUGHTS:
Still loving this series. The only thing which didn’t make sense is the fact that Reyes keeps threatening Charley or her family and friends to get Charley to cooperate and Charley seems to not trust Reyes in the flesh. They have been all over each other incorporeally for months now. They talk all the time. They might be having their first real fight, but it is unbelievable that Charley wouldn’t be there to help Reyes without the threats of violence and sadly, it comes off that she seems to believe he would hurt her. This seems to go against the characters and the relationship they developed. Faking threats of violence so the police don’t believe she is an accomplice to his escape is one thing, but watching the distrust just felt false.

Normally Charley is what you would politely term “ditzy” but add in a lack of sleep and she takes it to a whole other level in this book.

[littleread1]

Reyes really pisses me off. Charley is fantastic. Make me like him or I am out.

[nitzan_schwarz]

The men in Charlie's life follow a pattern. They deserve a good spanking.

[Melanie]

Listening to audiobook.

Love Charley!!

[tellemonstar]

Poor Charley.