The Dirt on Ninth Grave (Charley Davidson, #9)

by Darynda Jones

[EBookObsessed]

Charley Davidson might have lost her memory, but she hasn’t lost her talent for getting herself into trouble. We are as frustrated as Reyes waiting to see what it will take to finally return Charley to her old self, but the story has all the usual fun and quirkiness we have come to expect from Charley Davidson and Darynda Jones.

When we last saw Charley Davidson, she suddenly appeared in an alley in Sleepy Hollow, New York with no memory and a ghost guardian dog. She ends up being taken in by Dixie who owns the local diner restaurant. Dixie gave her a job and a place to stay. Her frantic friends and family were able to track her down and have spent the last few weeks casually keeping an eye on Charley. I believe the only one who doesn’t make a guest appearance in this story is Rocket. Whether posing as a waitress like her BFF Cookie, or posing as three-meals-a-day regulars like Reyes, Garret and Osh, Charley’s friends are there to protect her and support her until her memory returns.

Not only does Charley have a knack for getting herself neck deep in trouble but trouble would find her even if she were hiding in a closet.

Charley might have forgotten who she is, but she starts to realize that seeing the departed and being able to feel what other people are feeling isn’t a normal occurrence. She picks up that Osh and Reyes are not completely human and that Reyes seems to be very angry at her and a bit resentful. Reyes is not only angry that seeing him hasn’t given Charley her memory back, but he is quite pissed off that the local police officer who found Charley wandering the streets has staked a claim and is declaring himself Charley’s boyfriend. Not a good idea to move in on the son of Satan’s woman.

Since appearing in Sleepy Hollow, Charley has picked up a stalker cop, a perverted old man with a telescope trained on her apartment, and the ghost of the headless horseman chasing her down the street. She also starts to notice the odd behavior of the antiques dealer a few doors down from the restaurant, as well as the strange men who are suddenly hanging around and making Mr. Vanderberg very nervous. She also doesn’t believe the rumor circulating that Mr. V’s wife took the kids and left town. She fears that Mr. V and his family have been taken hostage for something that the antique dealer has, and in true Charley fashion, she secretly (not so secretly) begins investigating. She is going to save Mr. V’s family, even if it kills her…and it just might.

THOUGHTS:
I binge listened to this series, but I received an advanced paperback for Ninth Grave. The funny thing is that I heard the whole book in my head as if it was narrated to me personally by Lorelei King. Do you think that means I owe her a royalty?

True to her to usual writing style Darynda Jones tosses in a few curve balls along with the fun and excitement, and she also gets Charley beat up. A lot.

I kept waiting for Charley’s memory to flood back and Darynda really does manage to take us the whole way through the story until the bitter end for Charley to have her revelation. At her sister Gemma’s insistence that Charley needs to recover her memory on her own, no one is allowed to just sit her down to explain who and what she is. While we realize the characters stopping by are our favorite friends, there it no recognition by Charley. Even when Cookie slips and keeps calling her Charley, she doesn’t associate that name with herself. Charley might not remember who she is and while she does realize that Reyes isn’t entirely human, that doesn’t stop that deep down attraction from drawing them both together.

I would safely say that you won’t guess what it finally takes for Charley to remember who she is, but by the end, she will be returning to New Mexico with her family and friends and that leads to the bigger question of what is coming next for Charley now that she remembers who she is and the power that she controls?

Received an ARC from her publicist in exchange for an honest review.