First Grave on the Right , by Darynda Jones

Paperback, 310 pages

Published November 3rd 2011 by Piatkus Books (first published February 1st 2011)

ISBN

0749956046 (ISBN13: 9780749956042)

edition language

English

original title

First Grave on the Right

series

Charley Davidson #1

characters

Charley Davidson, Reyes Farrow, Garrett Swopes, Cookie Kowalski

setting

Albuquerque, New Mexico (United States)

literary awards

Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award (2009)

 

Private investigator Charlotte Davidson was born with three things: looks; a healthy respect for the male anatomy; and the rather odd job title of grim reaper. Since the age of five, she has been helping the departed solve the mysteries of their deaths so they can cross over. Thus, when three lawyers from the same law firm are murdered, they come to her to find their killer.

In the meantime, Charley's dealing with a being more powerful - and definitely sexier - than any spectre she's ever come across before. With the help of a pain-in-the-ass skip tracer, a dead pubescent gangbanger named Angel, and a lifetime supply of sarcasm, Charley sets out to solve the highest profile case of the year and discovers that dodging bullets isn't nearly as dangerous as falling in love.

 

My Review

It took me a while to read this book, not from lack of enjoyment, but from lack of time instead. It was a book that I very much wanted to read but everytime I picked it up to read, I was too tired to focus. so you can imagine how glad I was to have an actual day that meant I could sit and read to my hearts desire. I liked the fact that this was a very different, unsual and thought provoking write. it was fantasy but it was also crime and action and mystery. It was a book that just seemed to have you on edge from the word go, leaving you hanging on to every line, paragraph and word  with the assumption you would be able to figure it all out at somed point. I loved charley, loved the fact that her name was charlotte like me, because you got a real sense and feel for who she was, what it was that she wanted in life. you could tell that there was a lot more than meets the eyes to her and that possible she was someone with many surfaces of fears and dreams beneath the skin. The main male characters were also well produced in a way that meant you got to know them just slightly, but of course that means your left with a lot of questions at the end, such as who does she get with, does she stay happy, does she find the perfect person. The book just had a lot to offer.

 

Was it perfect, of course not, but then find me a book that is considered perfect, there just isn't one for the simple fact that we all have different tastes and desires from a book. However the novel was engaging and thought provoking in the sense that it was different, no where near what I would be consider to be cliche or overdone. It ran with a topic o its own and just challenged the reader to look at fantasy from a whole new aspect and angle. The idea behind the storyline had clearly been well thought out and thats what I like to see about a book. However, I do feel that perhaps this book is more suitable for people from the age of 16+ merely because you perhaps have to grasp what is actually happening and going on within the pages and background. at 13 I prehaps would not have really understood any of it quite so well.

 

In a way the book did remind me of many shows like ghost whisperer meets buffy the vampire slayer meets angel. But I could also see this being, if done well and stuck to the book, being a very good drama that I would most certainly watch. you can see the huge potential within the words and lines, you can see that there is a story line worth reading into and that if you bare with it, because there are what I consider to be slow points, you will find a story worth your time and patience. Its hard to pick a favorite scene but I suppose I would probably pick the bit where the dead guy is laying in his body swearing blind that he is not dead yet, that he is still alive and their all talking nonsense. I think it just made me chuckle for the pure and simple fact that I could see myself doing that when I die as well. My least favorite part, probably the fact that you didn't really touch on the step mother much. It's obvious something has happened but your not really fully understanding of what and why.  It is witty, darkly thrilling and oh so sexy as another author had expressed. It has everything that a young adult requires, the imagery, the life, the depth and the mystery. Is it missing something, most likely. But would I be proud to place the book on my shelf? oh yes very much so.

I'm going to give the book a four out of five. I had to battle with my mind about whether to mark it four or five stars, but in the end I went with my gut instinct. It was a brilliant book, but in my opinion it was far from perfect, there just seemed to be room for a little more detail. perhaps room for expansion and change, something to really challenge the reader that little bit more. However there is no need to state that it was a bad book because it most certainly was not, and I will be reading book two and three.

 

 My rating