Book Review: Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones

Book Review Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones  written by Stacey Leerhoff

 

I first found the author, Darynda Jones, when her book, “A Bad Day for Sunshine” was on our Browsing shelf in the library. It looked fun so I grabbed it to try out. Turns out, it was a fantastic read! It had mystery, romance, a great lead character with lots of heart and humor. I was hooked. As she wrote the next two in that series, I gobbled them up. I quickly realized that I needed to read more of this author, so I researched other things she had written. The Charley Davidson series was an older series that Darynda Jones had written and upon reading about it, I realized it had lots that I love in a book: fantasy, romance, a little mystery, witty comebacks and lovable main characters. I loved it already and hadn’t even started it yet. We didn’t have the series in the library, but we do have it available in both of our digital reading apps, Libby and Hoopla!!I started right away with the first in the series, “First Grave on the Right.” The main character, Charley Davidson is a private detective with her own agency above her Dad’s bar. Turns out, she also sees dead people. Yep. She’s a grim reaper and her job is to help said dead people “go into the light,” which is essentially her. As a private investigator also, she sometimes has situations where the dead people she is trying to convince to go into the light want her to find the people who murdered them and bring justice and closure to their living family members. On top of all of that, she has intense dreams about a dark entity that has been following her for her entire life. She assumes this entity is another dead person that is following her because of her light. Charley also “works” for her uncle, a homicide detective on the police force. This is where she meets the dead people who want justice for their murders and in the process helps her uncle solve crimes with her gift. As the story moves along, Charley figures out a murder as a PI and learns more about this entity and who and what he might be. Adding to the fun, Charley has quite the eccentric and fun loving receptionist/neighbor next door, Cookie.Cookie and her daughter Amber are with Charley through it all and have their own foibles that add to the hilarity of many situations. Each chapter begins with a  funny quote or saying from a t-shirt, or license plate or sign on a door. These quotes are often funny, spot on and give you clues and insight into the characters and what’s happening next in the story. Romance sizzles as Charley meets and gets to know the dark entity that has been following her. Each book in the series brings new mysteries to solve and deeper relationships, whether it’s romance or friendships or family. The combination of quirky characters Charley collects along the way and the hot romance mixed with mystery make this book and following installments in the series an A+ series in my book. For a funny light mystery with hot romance and fun and sometimes crazy characters, download the apps and get a copy today: either ebook or audio. You’ll wish you’d done it sooner, trust me.