First Grave on the Right
“From the very first page, Darynda Jones has you hooked. Expertly crafting a high-action, incredibly sexy, laugh-out-loud thrill ride featuring some of the best characters to hit the page in a long time. . . . Newcomer Darynda Jones has hit the ground running, and if her debut is any indication, she will be virtually unstoppable.”
Charlotte “Charley” Davidson is the daughter of a retired Albuquerque police detective and the niece of a current APD detective. Charley has been assisting her father and uncle in solving crimes since she was five, which is easy when you can see and speak with the dead.
These days Charley is a private investigator and consultant to the APD—but she was born a reaper.
Charley takes her job seriously—the PI part that is. Though she is a portal to heaven, Charley has little patience for those who linger, especially when they intrude on her in the shower. So in between the bar fights and the crime solving, Charley takes time out of her day to help the dead get to their final resting place.
To make life a little more annoying, Charley has to work with former lover Garrett Swopes. Though he’s one of the best skip tracers in all of New Mexico, things have been a bit strained between them since Uncle Bob told him what Charley can do.
For Charley, life isn’t all glitter and walking into the light. There’s a black fog just on the edge of her vision and a recurring sex dream that, admittedly, is pretty hot, but she can’t shake the feeling of being watched. When Charley finally summons the wraith to reveal himself, she realizes that he’s not only the thing she has been petrified of her whole life: the reaper she named “The Big Bad,” but he’s also Reyes Farrow, a boy she met briefly as a teenager—and has loved ever since.
Though Reyes has the misfortune of being the son of the devil, he has dedicated his life to loving and protecting Charley no matter the cost. But just being near Charley opens up the possibility of his father finding her, providing him a direct line into heaven.
Conflicted between loving and protecting Charley, Reyes cannot allow his father to use her as a gateway and will do everything in his power to prevent it, even if it means putting himself in mortal danger—or worse, killing the only woman he has ever loved.
From the very first page, Darynda Jones has you hooked. Expertly crafting a high-action, incredibly sexy, laugh-out-loud thrill ride featuring some of the best characters to hit the page in a long time. From the tough, wise-cracking, yet sensitive and loving Charley Davidson, her trusted, loyal friend and co-worker Cookie, to the smoldering sensuality of Garrett Swopes, and the smoking hot wraith-of-a-man, Reyes Farrow, it’s impossible to pick a favorite.
Ms. Jones writes in a light, witty, and exquisitely humorous voice, with just a hint of well-placed pulp. Far from being just another paranormal story, First Grave on the Right is a perfect mash-up of all the best stuff with something for everybody.
Newcomer Darynda Jones has hit the ground running, and if her debut is any indication, she will be virtually unstoppable.