First Grave on the Right

Charley Davidson, Book 1

By: Darynda Jones

Narrated by: Lorelei King

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

First Grave on the Right is the smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper.

Charley sees dead people. That's right, she sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e., murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

This is a thrilling debut novel from Darynda Jones, an exciting newcomer to the world of paranormal romantic suspense.

First Grave on the Right is the winner of the 2012 Rita Award for Best First Book.

Keep chilled: spend some more time with Charley Davidson.

©2011 Darynda Jones (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Sexy, sassy . . . Jones's characters, both living and dead, are colorful and endearing. . . . Cheeky charm . . . sarcastic wit.” —The Associated Press

“Jones's wickedly witty debut will delight aficionados of such humorous paranormals as Casey Daniels's Pepper Martin Mysteries and Dakota Cassidy's Accidental Friends series.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Fast-talking Charley's wicked exuberance and lust for life will appeal to fans of MaryJanice Davidson and Janet Evanovich and maybe fill a hole for those mourning the recently canceled Ghost Whisperer.” —Publishers Weekly

worth it.

Certainly imaginative story telling. I will follow the series. But only when I have nothing better to read.

Excellent

Great book, fun read and love the tension! Laughed out loud way more than once.

This book will keep your interest!!

I will start by saying that I choose this book because of the reader. Lorelei King is one the best readers I have come across. She has a way with character separation and makes stories flow, never a feeling of being rushed!

I am so glad I gave this book a try. Another series!!!!!!! Well written in regards to keeping the readers interest. She has Charley, the main character very busy. She is always doing something. Just when you think the story will reach a slow point. Charley is at it again. There is a small amount of romance. Lots of suggestion in the beginning. But only one good screen. As I usually say, I like more romance however this book was still very good. No boredom, some romance prob more in the future, :) and the supernatural. I would even purchase this book with cash if I were out of credits. The best part is that there are more books and the ending leaves much room for what I like in my books. Give this one try!

Overall good story

What made the experience of listening to First Grave on the Right the most enjoyable?

The characters were interesting and well thought out

What three words best describe Lorelei King’s voice?

over the top

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved the intrigue surrounding "the big bad"

Fantastic and fun read!

Where does First Grave on the Right rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I rate it up there pretty high as the narrator was awesome and the storyline was a lot of fun.

What did you like best about this story?

Charley herself, she was a very interesting characters. Then I have to say the parts with the teenage ghost...lol.

What about Lorelei King’s performance did you like?

OMG, this is my first time listening to her but she was awesome!!!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Part time PI, full time Grim Reaper.

Any additional comments?

Oh my goodness! Why did I wait so long to get to know Charley Davidson!!! This book was so much fun!

Charley's a grim reaper and she helps souls pass on through the light and she just happens to be that light as well. She has been talking to ghost since she was little and once her father a policeman figured out that she really could talk to the dead he used her often to help him close cases. Now that has been passed on to her Uncle (UB is what she likes to call him).

Not every case is that simple as not everyone knows who killed them but they usually have some clues that Charley can trace as she is also a PI that just happens to consult with the police. Some people thinks she is just plain crazy but she has a good friend Cookie who believes everything she says and it's nice for Charley to have someone to talk to.

There is a couple of mysteries to solve one being who killed the three lawyers and the other one is a personal case for Charley. She wants to know who the entity (not sure how to spell his name and don't want to mess it up) that has been following her around since she was young and now making her all hot and bothered.

I love the paranormal elements and I love the mystery. I just love this book. :)

Charley cracks me up. She think she is a bit tougher than she really is as she keeps getting beat up and almost killed quite a bit. The parts with the demon spawn from hell or aka teenager ghost that is haunting that one police officer was pretty funny. I think Charley tries her best just to be a normal gal but it's hard to be normal when your a grim reaper and I can see where that would irritating at times too. Overall Charley is just a great character. I really enjoyed the side characters as well.

If you like paranormal books with a good mystery in it too then you really need to try this series. :)

Sarcasm frequently falls flat .

Another sarcastic woman lead character whose sarcasm doesn't quite hit the mark, but I'll at least read the next book in the series.

Err... Not terrible

I "think" the series has a lot of potential...

This first book was almost.. I don't want to say boring... but average, not really a lot of action, more like a light mystery novel. It is not really what I was looking for... Maybe... I say maybe because the idea behind the story does hold a lot of potential to be awesome!

Also OMG! I HATE the COVER Photo. HELLO! Even with the kama on her knee, it doesn't add up to a masculine book if someone sees the picture. You can't even play it off as something else, they think your lying and I fully looked guilty when they asked to hear a little bit of what was being said because it was on the only sex scene in the book, it is "mortifiably" bad!! ("Mortifiably" I coined a new word, Yaay Me!).

Anywhoo, I don't think this book is worth 4 stars but I couldn't justify a 3 star either, I would feel extremely bad if the second book is Awesome! Fingers Crossed.

The Narrator does a better job than I can do, but that is not saying much. She has a few different voices but mostly the females had one voice and the males had another one, she would change it up every once in a while to keep you on your toes. Honestly it didn't bother me, I did get confused once or twice, but still kept up with the story. :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this to anyone that likes a good ghost mystery and likes a little humor. I laughed and laughed.

good start to the series

Enjoyed getting to know the characters in this series. Honestly reminds me of a super natural version of Stephanie Plum but still looking forward to the rest of the series.

Hooked!

confusing at first but storylines blend masterfully, characters engaging. great mix of mystery-humor-romance and supernatural