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

OMG! I'm so hooked!

I was completely enthralled from the first chapter. Our heroine is sassy, sarcastic and fearless. The story is not easily predictable. Wonderful narration. I'm looking forward to devouring the next in the series.

Best series, hands down

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

I am an avid listener to audio books - they accompany me on my daily hikes, working out at the gym, during my commute, and while I'm crafting. The Charley Davidson series is by far the best, of hundreds I've listened to. The reader, Lorelei King, brings the characters to life, and the story is quirky and interesting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Charley is great, of course. She is kick-butt, funny, quirky, and never gives up. Her best friend is awesome; she reminds me of Flo, the gum snapping waitress in Alice. And Charley's uncle is sweet in his gruffness. Her love interest is mysterious and hot. These characters are all great, and have great promise.

Have you listened to any of Lorelei King’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, I've listened to the Janet Evanovich novels, which she also does exceptionally well. In the Charley books, she does such a wonderful job of developing the characters, giving each a distinct voice. I've listened to all the books in the series, and she makes these characters feel like old friends.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Charley is so witty, creative, and with such a big heart, and the story sucks you in.

Any additional comments?

I live in ABQ, and it's so fun to hear a wonderful series based in ABQ. The only slightly annoying part is that the author does struggle a bit with the pronunciation of Spanish street names and towns. It's also amusing as you go through this series, because you can tell she's been schooled in her mistakes, and corrects pronunciation in future books.

Read this book twice and love it

This is my second time reading this book and I love it so much all of the little things Charlie says are so funny and you get so attached to all of her friends. My husband also read this book and loved it! “AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

Multiple X

I have both read and listened to the 13 book series several times and am starting over again from the beginning. From start to finish each book is captivating and intriguing and builds in to a great crescendo ending to the series but with room to branch off. I hope this writer is not finished with the characters of these books.

Not what I expected...

I loved this book right up until the last 1/2 hour. Then I had to seriously consider whether I really wanted to keep reading. Every time she said his true name, I flinched. I would have preferred the truth to be anything else, and I'm sure it could have been, but the author went with shock and horror. That being said though, the characters in this book are very vibrant, especially Reyes and Bad. I laughed out loud and loved the snappy, sarcastic dialogue. Better dialogue than Sookie Stackhouse (though the series has only just begun) and a whole other league from Twilight (not even worth a comparison!).

The narrator did a lovely job. When I first listened to the sample I was sure I would hate the narrator's voice and would have to clench my teeth and endure. After purchasing the book, I spent likely about 5 seconds disliking the narrator's voice and that was that. The story is so funny and intriguing that petty things like the narrator's voice stops being important. Which is to say that by the end of the book, I can't imagine anyone else doing a better job of reading it. I originally wanted a younger voice, but a younger narrator wouldn't have carried the story as well or made the impact that this narrator did. It was well read.

Unfortunately I won't be reading the other books in the series, not because I don't think the book is brilliant in general (four stars as you can see!), but because I'm a wimp. It's strange to come into contact with the edges of one's own belief system. The "truth" and final seduction went a step too far for me personally, and left me cringing back. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with sterner stuff than me, but I would also have to be careful who I recommend it to.

A mix of one-liners and female porn

This book had a decent premise, and the setup for the series at the end of the book was also decent. It had some things I would consider MAJOR distractions though.

Firstly, the author penned the protagonist as sort of a ditzy, yet "witty" gung-ho gal. Well, she comes across as childish (in her "jokes") and naive (in how she's always stupidly putting herself in danger -- it's not like she has any uncommon skill (that she knows of) when it comes to going up against bad guys).

Her constant mildly funny one-liners more often led to silent groans than smiles. There was more of that than actual story or character development, and honestly, it got annoying.

Then there's the "sex" part of the book. Now, I'm a male, so maybe this wasn't written for me, but I found the constant sexual talk a bit disturbing (add slutty to the protagonist's description), and even more so when **SPOILER**she not only kept letting a demon essentially rape her, but sought it out **end spoiler*. It was very off-putting and distracted from the story.

In all, this was a decent story, that shows some promise for a great series if the author can step it up a bit.

More Please!!

I was getting a little bored with Stephanie Plum so when I found this treasure I got really excited. I must say that Ms.Jones has a wonderful wit and the great judgement to get the talented Ms.King to be the voice of Charley! I am dying to read her next installment!! Kudos and brava with a snap!!

Could NOT hit the pause button on this!!

The writer had me hooked from the first chapter. Good storyline, made you feel for the characters.

awesome!!

I will definitely be listening to the next in the series. Sharp, fun and unexpected.

6 Stars!

First Grave on the Right is book 1 in the Charley Davidson series. This was my first experience with this author and she knocked my socks off so it will certainly not be the last. My coworker told me about this series over a year ago and I marked it as to read but didn’t circle back to it until 2 days ago. Once I started this book, I had a hard time turning it off. I stayed up late listening and then woke up early to start listening again. Then I finished the book that day.

This story was enthralling from the very beginning. I love the author’s writing style and I love how she wrote the characters and made it all so witty. The main character, Charley, is the grim reaper and also a private investigator. I liked the author’s take on the grim reaper for this story. Since Charley can see and interact with ghosts, she has been helping her father (a now retired police detective) and uncle (current police detective) solve crimes since she was a very young child.

I enjoyed that this book seems to cross genres and have a mix of mystery, suspense, paranormal, fantasy, and romance. And it is all woven together so seamlessly. I liked figuring out the “who dunnit” alongside the main character. I also really liked the family dynamic with Charley, her father, and her uncle. I really dislike her stepmother but I’m wondering if that will change as we learn the reasons behind her behavior. Hopefully it is more than just being a mean person.

I’m really excited to see where Charley will go from here and can’t wait to continue the story.

I thought the narrator did a great job. This is definitely worth a credit. I will be listening to this again in the future.