First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)

by Darynda Jones

Lorelei King (Narrator)

Audiobook on CD

• ISBN10: 1427211302
• ISBN13: 9781427211309
• Publish Date: 1 February 2011
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: MacMillan Audio
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 9 hours and 30 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[booksandcats]

This book is hilarious, witty, entertaining, original and all around a fun read that I would greatly recommend everyone up for a fun whirlwind, especially if you like kick-ass, sarcastic, snarky female protaonists. I‘m going for number two in this series right away!

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4★⎮This wasn't my first go around with First Grave on the Right, but it was the first time I made it all the way through. I've been on a PNR (Paranormal Romance) kick lately. To be honest, I could do without most of the romance, but it's so hard to find good paranormal books without it. PNR has basically consumed the paranormal genre, but that's a rant for another day.

Whatever you call it (PNR/Urban Fantasy), I still enjoyed it. I'm so glad I was able to get through (and enjoy) this book because this is a series that I've been wanting to get into for a while. It's always high everyone's lists of favorite Urban Fantasy/Paranormal series and I was really bummed the first time around when I wasn't blown away by it. I wasn't blown away by it this time either and it's leagues away from the likes of Mercy Thompson or even Sookie Stackhouse, but it was good enough that I was able to finish it in just a couple days.

Charley Davidson was likable enough as a protagonist. I mean, I wouldn't fall on my sword for her or anything, but she was more than tolerable. I could see her growing on me as I continue with the series. Maybe I'm finally acclimating to the PNR genre, but the romantic pairing in First Grave on the Right, actually sort of worked for me. I like that it wasn't run-of-the-mill and it certainly wasn't predictable, especially with one half of the pairing being incorporeal. The big twist at the end regarding the Reyes' identity really surprised me. I'm not sure how to feel about it at this point, so I'll wait for a few more installments before passing judgment.

The only character I didn't really care for was Cookie. Evening her name is annoying. She came across as really trope-ish to me. Other than that, I have no real complaints with First Grave on the Right. The episodic mystery didn't do a lot for me (I can't even remember it), but the larger mystery involving Reyes and Charlie's identities/connection was super intriguing. We were given just enough of a resolution at the end of First Grave on the Right to make me want to continue on with the series right away. This is clearly something that will be an overarching plot throughout the series and I am more than ready to let it string me along. This is definitely a binge-able series, so watch out for a series review once I'm finally finished with it.

Narration review: The phenomenal Lorelei King narrated First Grave on the Right. She also narrated the Mercy Thompson series, of which I am a huge fan. King carried me half way through this audiobook before I really became invested in Charley. Her voice is the stuff dreams are made of. It's absolutely heavenly. To begin with, my subconscious was making connections between Charlie Davidson and Mercy Thompson (because they are both voiced by King) and, on some level, I think that helped me draw more parallels between the two, which certainly aided my overall enjoyment.

King is a wonderful performer, so if you have a chance to hear First Grave on the Right, jump at it! Knowing that she is the narrator makes me want to continue with the series even more, just to hear more of King's voice. ♣︎

[mitabird]

3.5 stars

[kimbacaffeinate]

Loved the audio...and found out I have been pronouncing Reyes name wrong since day one *hangs head*

[llamareads]

Charley Davidson is the grim reaper, which means she sees dead people and helps them “go into the light.” But since that doesn’t pay anything, she’s also a PI who uses her dead-people skills to help her cop uncle with his cases and also bartends at her ex-cop dad’s bar. When three lawyers from the same law firm are murdered, Charley’s Uncle Bob calls her in. Can Charley help solve the case before more people end up dead? And does it have any connection to the mysterious dream lover who’s been haunting her for the past month?

I liked Charley’s attitude. She’s hilarious and acts like she doesn’t take anything seriously. Sometimes her quirks got a bit annoying, but her reactions are explained by her (slowly revealed) back story. I especially liked the gradual reveal of her history. As you’re reading, you get hints about why her relationships with her family and most people are antagonistic, but it’s not until near the end of the book that you get the full story and start understanding how strong and resilient Charley is.

Now, for the negatives. There was definitely a hint of the “I’m so hot, everyone wants me!” trope, which I personally can’t stand, but it was not egregious enough to stop me from reading. I also have reservations about the main love interest, since it felt like a lot was revealed about his identity towards the end of the book and not really dealt with, but I’m hoping that is explored further in the next book. Also, the plot is… well, it’s a bit of a mess. It flips back and forth between investigating the murder of the three lawyers and figuring out the identity of her dream lover with a speed that gave me whiplash.

Overall, I had a good time reading this book, mostly thanks to Charley’s humor. It’s a light, fun read, basically book candy. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for an urban fantasy/paranormal romance mash-up with lots of sarcasm and humor.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[chymerra]

Ever read a book where you are almost peeing your pants laughing because it is hilarious? That is exactly what First Grave on the Right did to me. I couldn’t stop laughing. I read the book laughing and with a permasmile. After the last couple of weeks that I had, 2 out of my 3 kids were sick, I needed to read this book.

First Grave on the Right starts off with Charley being woken up after a couple of hours of sleep to go to a crime scene. Charley has some unique abilities. She is able to talk to the dead and she is able to guide them towards the light. She calls herself a grim reaper and in retrospect, she is. Charley ends up getting involved in an investigation that will push her to her limit. The other major plotline is Charley and her unique connection to a man named Reyes Farrow. Charley must solve the crime, find out exactly who and what Reyes is and keep herself from being killed. Which is not easy since she attracts danger like trash attracts flies.

Charley has to be the snarkiest woman that I have read in a long while. Her outlook on life and her gifts was hilarious. While she was snarky, it was a front. She was still that little girl who was berated for using her gifts in public. Her father did nothing while his wife did her best to break Charley and in my eyes, that made him as bad with his wife. Charley did have a wonderful support system, alive and dead. Her biggest protector was an entity called Big Bad. Big Bad was present at her birth and he has protected her since then. Her trust issues with friends were well founded too. The scene where she opened up to Cookie was heartwarming and sad. All I have to say is thank you that Cookie took everything Charley said and believed her.

There is only one sex scene in this book. But, there is lead up to it. I mean, Reyes visited Charley every chance he got and he tormented her before leaving. When they finally did the dead, holy crap. I swear that I saw fireworks go off, it was that hot. Of course, seeing that Reyes was incorporeal, I did wonder how they managed to do it….lol.

The action scenes in this book were fantastic too. I did like that the author chose to portray Charley as human. She had to take time to somewhat heal before going out to do the next outrageous thing. It made the book more believable and likable to me.

The end of the book shocked me. It also set up for book 2. Once I catch up with my backlog of reviews, I will be reading the rest of this series!!

First Grave on the Right was a humorous read. It had snappy dialogue, a main character that cracked me up and plotlines that were fantastic. This is a series that will definitely be worth my time reading.

[Angie]

First Grave on the Right was a lot of fun! Charley Davidson is a PI, bartender, and the grim reaper. Yep, she's a busy woman. When the book starts she's in the middle of mind-blowing dream sex when a ghost pops in for a visit and her uncle calls her about a case. Needless to say, she's not happy about any of this. But Charley has a job to do. Three lawyers were just murdered while their innocent client is sitting in prison for a murder he didn't commit. On top of that, Charley needs to figure out who she's having dream sex with and why.

Let's start with the mystery portion of First Grave on the Right. It was interesting and engaging, but it did kind of fizzle toward the end. There's no AH HA moment and the big show down was not so big. But I was invested from beginning to end. I tend to be fascinated by innocent people being convicted for crimes they didn't commit. Clearly our justice system is quite broken. I had to know what really happened! The crime does wind up being a bit over-the-top and not quite fitting into the tone of the book, but it all worked out in the end.

As for the characters, I quite enjoyed everybody! Charley is snarky as heck, and you don't want to mess with her while she's uncaffeinated! She's just so sick of having to prove her ability to see and speak with the dead, and having them show up at the most inopportune moments. But she's always there to help. She acts mean, but she's a softy! Her BBF Cookie is amazing! Her unbelieving coworker, Swopes, also stole my heart a little bit. He obviously has a thing for her and doesn't quite know how to handle it. Even the ghosts had a lot of personality! Even silent Mr. Wong...

Then there's Reyes, Charley's dream partner. I love this idea of this super beautiful man visiting her in her dreams and rocking her world. There's more to it than that, as Charley discovers as she's working her case. She's met him once before, but why is he popping back into her life now? I can't say too much about him, because spoilers. But I am certainly eager to learn more about him and see how this relationship can possibly develop.

Obviously, I liked First Grave on the Right a lot. It's not the most original set up or plot, but the characters really made it feel fresh and fun.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Linda]

First Grave on the Right is filled with amazing snark! I loved Charley's sarcastic humor, and of course, her skills when it came to seeing and talking to ghosts were great, too. The overall story and plot were well done, and I think I've found a new heroine I'll love.

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

[littleread1]

What a fun book. Def going right into the next one!

[EBookObsessed]

I hesitated on this Urban Fantasy series since the main character, Charlie Davidson, is a grim reaper. I had thoughts of a cloak and sickle and couldn't imagine why everyone thought it was so entertaining. After about a dozen glowing recommendations, I downloaded an audible copy and have to agree with those reviews. Charlie is snarky, witty and delightful.

Charlie Davidson is a grim reaper, not the cloak and sickle kind of grim reaper, but he does show up from time to time during Charlie's life to save her. Spirits can pass through her onto the next plain of existence. This creates a very interesting continuing story premise for the series. Some spirits come to her after they die and she either assists them to cross-over or she assists them in solving their own murder. Charlie is a Private Investigator. She also works with the New Mexico Police Department, first with her Dad (who is now retired), and now with her Uncle Bob (she refers to him as U.B.).

In Book #1, Charlie is approached by three dead lawyers from the same law firm who were all killed execution style at about the same time in different locations. They all find their way to her at about the time her Uncle Bob calls her to the crime scene. Uncle Bob knows Charlie can see ghosts, but she hasn't given him all her secrets, like that she is a grim reaper. She learned the painful truth as a child that not everyone believes and not everyone wants to know about the spirits wandering around.

Charlie has a few spirits who hang around her including her dead aunt, the old man down the hall who keeps trying to peep at her in the shower, and Mr. Wong who stands (or more appropriately floats) in the corner of her apartment and who so far hasn't moved or spoken since he showed up there. There is also Angel, a 13 year old gang banger who was killed years ago and who works with Charlie as part of her P.I. investigations. She sends the money he would have earned anonymously to his mom.

There are two men in her life currently. Garret is a skip tracer who also works with Charlie's Uncle Bob on his cases. They have a bit of antagonistic relationship. Garret has only learned recently from a drunk Uncle Bob that Charlie sees ghosts and he is not a believer. Although Garret seems angry and annoyed with Charlie, there is also that feeling that he is very attracted to her. At one point in the story, it looked like Garret was moving in for a kiss, and was shoved back by a presence, which brings us to guy number 2.

When the story starts, Charlie has been having someone invade her dreams for the last month. Dream lover brings a night of erotic pleasures to Charlie. She can tell he is not someone who is dead, but she is uncertain if he is all her imagination. We come to learn that dream lover has a name--Reyes Farrow. Charlie knows Reyes from her teenage years and never forgot the young man with the mesmerizing eyes.

While investigating the murder of the lawyers, Charlie also searches out Reyes Farrow and finally locates him, in a coma, where he has been for the last month. That explains why he has been coming into her dreams for the last month, but not how he has that ability. If you go read synopsis for the next few books, you learn like I did more information about Reyes Farrow that you won't get until the very end of this story. So if you like surprises, don't do that! By peeking that the descriptions for the other books, I saw that Reyes will be an important and continuing character. Since he has supernatural powers of his own and doesn't like Garret sniffing around Charlie, I think this love-triangle will definitely be kicking Garret to the curb.

Like most Urban Fantasies, Charlie keeps getting herself in positions where she gets her ass kicked and spends most of her time bruised and bloody, but not dead -- enter the cloaked grim reaper who shows up whenever Charlie is in series trouble and usually slices the spine of the threat to Charlie and has been doing this since she was a child.

THOUGHTS:
Despite my initial hesitation, I did enjoy the fluid writing which kept the action going and I can see the premise of this series leading to many, many interesting story lines. Charlie is a delightful heroine and Reyes has enough dark, mysterious sexiness that we want to see more and more of him.

The only flaw here was the fact that it was a first book of the series and we did have a few slowish parts where we are learning all the back stories on Charlie and laying down the foundation for the series. While the stories were enjoyable, it did draw you away from all the other happenings which were finding out about the lawyers and getting more details on Reyes and his coma.

My other only issue, which was not the fault of the author, was the fact that Lorelei King also narrates the Mercy Thompson series and several times I had to remind myself that this was not a Mercy Thompson story.

I will definitely be picking up Book #2, but I have several review downloads that I have to listen to first.