The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson, #12)

by Darynda Jones

Ever since Reyes Farrow escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley Davidson accidentally trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that's not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings, some corporeal, some not so much, as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she's not uncovering a murder. This time she's covering one up.

• ISBN10: 1427289484
• ISBN13: 9781427289483
• Publish Date: 31 October 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 24 October 2023
• Imprint: MacMillan Audio
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 7 hours and 15 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I love this series - especially the later ones - and even though I enjoyed this one enough to read it in one sitting today, it was not one of her best.  Mostly because the plot(s) were utterly transparent.  There was never any doubt in my mind what Reyes was looking for, or what would happen when he found it (although the third member of the showdown was a delightful surprise).  There was never any doubt in my mind who was responsible for the killings either, although the 'other' murder plot, while not central to much of anything, was interesting and its resolution unexpected.   There are also a few story elements that keep getting repeated in the books - honestly, it's like hell has a revolving door - but Jones still manages to write a captivating, and hilarious, story that expands on biblical mythology while honouring its structure and its spirit.  So in spite of not being everything it could be, it was exactly what I needed today.  

[littleread1]

I am confused, and I can't explain why without spoilers. let's just say the explanation left me underwhelmed.

[Berls]

3.5 stars
It's always great to return to this world - I love all the characters so much and the humor is fantastic. I so want to be best friends with Charlie and Cookie.

That being said, this book felt like filler :( Good filler that I really enjoyed reading. But when I got to the end, it was like nothing had REALLY happened and the whole point of the book was to get me to the end - which is a massive cliff hanger - and what's really going to start happening in the next book. So I'm super anxious for the next one, but not feeling quite as satisfied with my dose of Charlie this time.

Narration was, as always, amazing!

[EBookObsessed]

I was happy to get back to an audiobook of this series. Lorelei King does an outstanding job bringing Charley to life.

NOTE: There are spoilers here if you have not finished Book Eleven. If you are still at the beginning of the series, turn away.

I adored this series at the very beginning and talked it up to anyone looking for a recommendation but I have not been so excited about what happened with the series once we started changing Charley from the Grim Reaper to a God from another dimension. Added to that, Reyes Alexander Farrow (Reyes), Charley’s love interest, who turned out to be the son of Satan (Rey’azeel), then turned out to have been created by Satan from the life force of another God (Rey’azikeen). And then he turned out to be the brother of Jehovah, so seems to be a bit jealous of Reyes.

After sucking my friend Christine into the series, she agrees with me that we don’t like where the series is going, but we might just be the only ones. 5 star reviews are everywhere, as well as statement of the best book yet. I can only share my thoughts on this book and series.

I really adored Charley’s ADHD wackiness. Her Private Investigator cases were interesting, add in the supernatural side job as the Grim Reaper, plus hot, dangerous love interest Reyes, and this series was destined for the top of anyone’s Must Read list.

I just haven’t been able to get behind bringing in the God issues, having the Angel Michael coming in to threaten Charley and even bringing in confrontations with God himself. In this book, Garrett gives Charley three childrens books written by a blind child from India which are a thinly veiled prophecy of Charley, Reyes and their daughter, Beep. Of course, in the middle of this desperate need to figure out what is happening, she doesn’t jump to Book 3 and get to the ending of Beep’s book. She peruses her book and Reyes’s book, and barely peeks at Beep’s book as she frantically tries to find Rey’azikeen and figure out what he trying to find.

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave started off with an interesting first chapter more reminiscent of the first Charley Davidson books but it quickly lose that focus.

In the end of the Eleventh book, Reyes decided it would be a great idea to jump into the God Glass (the hell dimension that Jehovah tricked Rey’azikeen into creating with the idea that Jehovah would trap him inside). He doesn’t come out right away and just as Charley is getting desperate enough to jump in after him, the God Glass explodes (creating a hell portal in Charley’s apartment which is growing and will still have to deal with) and Rey’azikeen comes out (not as Reyes). He is now a very angry God and he believe that Charley trapped him in the hell dimension and he pissed off.

He needs to do something but can’t remember what because Reyes is blocking those thoughts or memories from him. He also keeps following Charley around because he can’t understand Reyes’s fascination with Charley.

Charley is brought in by her Uncle Bob to help with these bizarre murder where people are being shredded and which appear a bit supernatural. Charley is having a hard time sleeping because every time she closes her eyes, she is being haunted(?), visited(?) by Reyes or Rey’azikeen who is being seductive and/or trying to get information out of Charley as to what Reyes is hiding and what Rey’azikeen has to find.

It doesn’t take much to guess that the only thing of real importance that Reyes would hide from anyone would be his daughter, Beep, who is currently in hiding away from Charley and Reyes’s enemies. So, it is easy to guess what is trying to find, but what does the very angry god want with baby Beep? Does he want to kill her like Satan does? Does he want to take her to punish Charley for trapping him in the God Glass? What?

I felt the ending of this story was too similar to the end of book eleven that I did an actual eye roll.

Darynda Jones has stated that she will end the series on Book 13 next year. I will definitely read that one, or more appropriately, have one more listen since Lorelei King makes the story that much better, but only because it will be the final book. If the series was going to continue, I might have passed on further books.

The real question will be is there going to be a spin-off with Beep and Osh, and what will it be about?

[chymerra]

So I did a very silly thing with this series. I read First Grave on the Right and then jumped right to The Trouble with Twelfth Grave. I skipped every single book between. So, yeah, I was a teeny-weeny bit confused while reading The Trouble with Twelfth Grave. I didn’t let my confusion get in the way of reading the book. It was the new relationships/new people who threw me off.

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave starts with Charley unloading her problems on a ghost. Long story short, she sent Reyes into a hell dimension. Reyes was supposed to save some innocent people who were trapped inside. Only thing….she accidentally trapped him inside the god glass pendant. He was trapped with an evil priest, a demon assassin and a malevolent deity. Reyes changed when trapped in that dimension. He reverted back to his deity form. And that deity form hates human. He also hates Charley because Charley, when in her deity form, had trapped him in that hell dimension. So, yeah, it made things a bit awkward.

Charley has her hands full. She is trying to convince everyone that Reyes will remember her….in time. She is also hiding her daughter from the Vatican, who has taken an interest in her. Her best friend’s teenage daughter has decided to open a PI venture. She is also trying to keep a friend out of jail by covering up the murder of a hot-headed criminal. On top of that, she also gets a case when someone or something is attacking and killing humans who are sensitive to the paranormal world. It’s a lot on her plate and will it implode on her?

Charley was still her snarky self in The Trouble with Twelfth Grave, which was awesome. Charley is that one girl that you can count on to help you out. When Peri told her what happened, Charley was there with a plan to help her. That plan cracked me up and I did sing The Mission Impossible theme song in my head the entire time they were doing it. I could see myself being friends with Charley, she was that interesting to be around.

I do wish Reyes was more in this book. I loved reading the sexual tension between Charley and him. Also, seeing him fight that evil part of himself was very interesting. I did think that the author included a very interesting plot twist towards the end of the book with Reyes. Makes me think about what could be happening in book 13.

The sexual tension between Charley and Reyes could be cut with a knife. He did what he did in book 1 and would show up and molest her. There was that one sex scene where Charley burned her clothes off. Talk about hot!!

The end of the book was pretty busy. All the storylines except the one with Beep and the one with the PI venture were ended very nicely. I was not expecting the twist that came with Reyes at the end. I also was most definitely expecting what happened at the end of the book. That bit of a cliffhanger definitely makes me want to read book 13.

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave was a very good book. I enjoyed reading it. The plot and characters were fleshed out. Unfortunately, you do need to read the earlier 11 books before reading this one. It is not a stand-alone book.

Will I reread: Yes (after I have read the earlier books)

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, violence, language

I would like to thank Darynda Jones, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Trouble with Twelfth Grave.

All opinions stated in this review of The Trouble with Twelfth Grave are mine

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[liz089]

Loved it.. of course.
Charley is my favourite character EVER. She is so amazing and funny, I love reading this novels so much. And not just her, but all of them.
Just so much love for this series !!

[Cocktails and Books]

WTF? I'm too shocked to say anything more.

Full review to come.

[kimbacaffeinate]

The Trouble with Twelfth picks up right where Eleventh Grave In Moonlight left off. Reyes insisted on doing a dangerous task, got trapped and now has returned. Only he is all smoke and brimstone. Charley being Charley tries to fix it while juggling her PI work, helping Amber and Quentin start their own detective agency and save the world. Yep, we are going to need coffee, lots and lots of coffee.

Charley finally reaches out to Garret and confesses that Reyes has gone feral. Together with Osh, they come up with a plan.  No pressure, oh and God intends to send an army to end Reyes. I loved seeing Charley take on God, come up with a plan to save her husband and juggle multiple murder cases. I swear she never sleeps and still manages to find humor in everything from naming boobs, to tormenting Osh.

For fans, we were rewarded with new tidbits, and some were jaw-dropping. Still, others made me laugh until I had tears. Feral Reyes and Charley Tango as she tries to devise plans to bring him back. It was both frustrating and seriously hot. Nothing with these two is ever boring.

Jones brought a mix of emotions forth from me as I read. I laughed, grasped my e-reader, held my breath, and cried. Scenes with Garret were hilarious, some freaky and oh my gosh moments but I loved them. Osh continues to be favorites, but he was pretty subdued.

The story was fast-paced, and I enjoyed all of the different threads from Charley helping a friend to events concerning a few spirits. I tried to savor the story, even forced myself to set it down, but still devoured it.  I think that only happened because I knew we would get another cliffhanger..and we did. The story came together brilliantly but Lord I need the next book now!

Copy provided by the publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[ellieroth]

Are you telling me that I've got to wait a FUCKING year to know what happens next???

Darynda how dare you

***

Honestamente, The Trouble with Twelfth Grave ha sido un libro relleno que aportó bastante poco a la historia más allá de la parte con el conjuro/hechizo/bendición y, aun así, lo amé con toda el alma y no sé cómo se supone que espere hasta el siguiente que será el final en la serie.



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[Linda]

When Reyes does not at all resemble himself after a short (or was it?) stunt in the hell dimension, Charlie has no idea what to do. She is sure that Reyes is still in there somewhere, even if none of her friends believe her.