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Four and a half stars. Snarky, sassy Charley is back and taking no guff in Jones’s action-packed new offering…There is murder and mystery aplenty…fun.

RT Book Reviews

It kidnapped me from the first paragraph, and didn’t let go until the exceedingly yummy conclusion.

Mary Janice Davidson, New York Times bestselling author of Undead and Unwelcome

Jones perfectly balances humor and suspense in her tight second paranormal thriller featuring grim reaper, PI, and “all-around badass” Charley Davidson… The fiery relationship between Charley and Reyes will satisfy paranormal romance fans, but it’s the distinctive characters, dead and alive, and the almost constant laughs that will leave readers eager for the next installment.

Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Second Grave On The Left

***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!***

*If you have not read book one, stop now!*

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously?

After dragging Charley out the door and trying unsuccessfully to stuff her into a trunk—mostly ‘cause Charley pitches a fit—Cookie finally explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. After a brief investigation, Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. They head to the parking lot only to be accosted by a frantic husband with a gun. After some soothing words and a few deep breathing exercises, the husband, aka Warren Jacobs, hires Charley to find his wife. He explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

Fun Facts

• Darynda ended up cutting four subplots from Second Grave. She likes subplots. Her editor, the spectacular Jennifer Enderlin, does too. Just not seventeen of them.
• There are references to two of Darynda’s favorite groups, Blue Oyster Cult and Pink Floyd. She also loves about five hundred others, but there just wasn’t room.
• While there is no Chocolate Coffee Café in Albuquerque, there is a Chocolate Café and Bakery and a Nestlé’s Café. Darynda tries not to drool when she ponders that fact. Bad for the keyboard.
• Reyes Farrow was originally based on actor Jason Behr. And he pretty much still is. –>
• Rocket’s abandoned mental asylum was a real state-run mental institution and still sits in Albuquerque to this day.
• Pari is named after a good writer friend of Darynda’s, Pari Noskin Taichert.

Awards

• Kiss of Death Chapter Best Paranormal Romance (2012)
• Daphne du Maurier (2012)
• BOOKIE Award (2012)

Second Grave on the Left

Audio Book Sample