Just add Water, Silly.: Book Review: "The Curse Of Tenth Grave" By Darynda Jones

"The Curse of Tenth Grave" By Darynda Jones will be published June 28, 2016. It is obviously the tenth installment of the Charley Davidson series. I highly recommend reading the first nine before reading this one and let me tell you, the series is so totally worth reading. It's fun, unique, interesting and even sexy. The relationship between Charlie and Reyes is explosive and crackling. The series has such wit, humor and snark that I can't believe any reader would be bored.

To give an accurate synopsis of this book I would have to reveal "spoilers" for the nine books before it so let me simplify the story a little and give you a broad overview. Charley Davidson, our heroine is the Grim Reaper. Yep, she is the conduit to heaven from earth. When someone dies, if they don't immediately ascend to heaven for some reason (that reason usually being unfinished business here on earth) Charley is the cross over point for those lost souls. She is an impossibly bright beacon of light to those who have not crossed over. She describes it like being a flame that all the moths are attracted to. Charley uses her abilities (she can see and speak to dead people) to help lost souls solve the problems keeping them here on earth.

In "The Curse Of Tenth Grave" Charley encounters a lost thirteen year old girl, Heather, who's not yet dead but thinks she's cursed. She has good reason, nearly a dozen foster kids from the institution she lives in have died under mysterious circumstances. Heather is now sick and running for her life. Charlie is also trying to help an innocent man accused of murdering his girlfriend. All the evidence points toward the boyfriend but Charley knows he's absolutely innocent so who killed his girlfriend, why and where's her body? On top of all this, Charley is dealing with her husband Reyes' unusual aloofness. He's lying to her about what's bugging him and she's determined to dig up the truth. But then he's not the only one keeping secrets, Charley now has the God Glass and a lot more knowledge about who wants her dead. Reyes isn't going to like hearing all Charley's secrets and the tension between them is affecting their marriage.

I LOVE this series. I love taking a break from hard bitten detectives and psychopaths to read something that begs you to just suspend disbelief and go with it. I also revel in Darynda Jones' sense of humor. For instance, at the top of every chapter you get a quote, bumper sticker or T-shirt saying.

"The fact that there's a Highway to Hell and only a Stairway to Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers"

"I'm one step away from being rich. All I need now is money."

"Just when you think you have all your ducks in a row, someone comes along and teaches you the recipe for Duck a` L'Orange, and you realize you can live without a duck or two."

I don't think I've read a funnier, meatier more satisfying series in years. I totally recommend you starting this series with book one named "First Grave On The Right". The Kindle price is less than $10 and since the series is ten books in, you'll have LOTS to read this summer. I'll tell you the truth, I devoured the first five books in two weeks this January because I fell in love with Charley and Reyes right away. It's like binge watching a great series on Netflix. Go and binge read this series, seriously, you won't regret it.

Best,