Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson #2) by Darynda Jones

My review of First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson #1)

If you haven't read the first in the series then you may not want to continue reading

because there will be spoilers.

Summary:

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out that an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

My Thoughts:

I know what you last summer in high school! Mimi’s part of the story screamed cover up! But it was fun following the story and trying to figure out whodunit as well as watch Charley in all of her sleuthing and shenanigans.

And Reyes…what to say about Reyes. He is like the ultimate man. He is such a trooper, taking the torture that’s being dished out to him all while protecting Charley and everyone really. I did have a niggling at the back of my mind that I knew where he was and I ended up being right but I didn’t know for sure.

Aaaand now it’s time for a nitpick…

One of the big things that stuck out to me was the amount of things that were rehashed from the first book in the series. I probably would have really appreciated the reminders had I read the books as they were released. But (yes there’s a but) being that I just read the first one a month before this one, everything was still fresh in my mind and that potentially helpful rehashing got to be distracting and it slowed down the progress of the story.

Aside from that, I have to say that I do still love the characters and I look forward to seeing more of them.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Darynda Jones' website

Second Grave on the Left on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble