THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE (Charley Davidson #9) by Darynda Jones-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 12, 2015

In a small village in New York lives Jane Doe, a girl with no memory of who she is or where she came from. So when she is working at a diner and slowly begins to realize she can see dead people, she’s more than a little taken aback. Stranger still are the people entering her life. They seem to know things about her. Things they hide with lies and half-truths. Soon, she senses something far darker. A force that wants to cause her harm, she is sure of it. Her saving grace comes in the form of a new friend she feels she can confide in and the fry cook, a devastatingly handsome man whose smile is breathtaking and touch is scalding. He stays close, and she almost feels safe with him around.

But no one can outrun their past, and the more lies that swirl around her—even from her new and trusted friends—the more disoriented she becomes, until she is confronted by a man who claims to have been sent to kill her. Sent by the darkest force in the universe. A force that absolutely will not stop until she is dead. Thankfully, she has a Rottweiler. But that doesn’t help in her quest to find her identity and recover what she’s lost. That will take all her courage and a touch of the power she feels flowing like electricity through her veins. She almost feels sorry for him. The devil in blue jeans. The disarming fry cook who lies with every breath he takes. She will get to the bottom of what he knows if it kills her. Or him. Either way.

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REVIEW: THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE is the ninth installment in Darynda Jones’s CHARLEY DAVIDSON urban fantasy series focusing on part time PI/ full time Grim Reaper Charley Davidson.

SOME BACKGROUND: This is the continuing story of Charley’s life as the Grim Reaper, the corporeal spirits who have yet to pass, and the man to whom she has pledged her undying love-the son of Satan-Reyes Farrow. Charley Davidson is the key to saving or destroying the world. If you have not read the previous installments there may be some spoilers.

Told from first person point of view (Charley) THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE is a bit of a departure from the series as our heroine wakes up in the small town of Sleepy Hollow with no memory of her past. The amnesia follows the heartbreaking events of EIGHTH GRAVE AFTER DARK and focuses on Charley through several weeks as she tries to come to terms with the ability to ‘see dead people’ and the loss of everything and everyone she has ever loved: Enter Reyes, Cookie, Uncle Bob (Ubie), Osh, Angel, Garrett and a host of others, dead people, and demons from her past who tread lightly in the path of the woman now known as Janey Doerr- a bumbling waitress at the Firelight Cafe who believes she is from the future. As Janey continues to search for the truth, our small band of family and friends keep an eye on the woman they love. Strawberry Shortcake and Artemis make a cameo appearance. And the local cop who saved ‘Janey Doerr’ has some nefarious plans for our broken heroine.

Throughout THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE we follow Charley ‘aka Janey’ as she endeavors to unravel a mystery involving the antique storeowner Mr.V and his missing family, as well as the infiltration of what appears to be the Russian Mob which in my opinion reads more like a ‘red herring’ that is irrelevant to the entire story and series but for all intents and purposes brings together several people from Charley’s past. Meanwhile, as per usual, Charley is visited by several corporeal beings who have yet to cross to the other side, in the hopes, of passing on a message to loved ones, or to help Charley in what it is she is supposed to do.

Darynda Jones continues to add her off-beat humor, sarcastic witticisms, and funny one-liners but because of Charley’s amnesia some of the humorous moments are few and far between as our heroine must come to terms with what she has lost-Janey ‘Charley’ knows that she has lost something fragile and small; someone she has left behind and spends the majority of the storyline feeling powerless and lost (herself). The relationship between Charley and Reyes is seductive and provocative as Reyes heats up the pages with his need and protectiveness of the woman he loves.

THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE is an intriguing but slow building installment that followed many paths to reveal a little more about Charley’s history-from the beginning of time-and why it is, so many gods, demons, fallen angels and angels are battling for control of Charley Davidson, but saying that, NINTH GRAVE did not reveal its’ purpose until the very end. We spent much of the storyline focusing on ‘Janey’s’ need to save the family across the street, and solve the mystery about one family’s numerous dying children. Charley’s true purpose is slowly revealing and with it comes the inevitable possibility that when the time comes, there will be many broken hearts and painful tears. Reyes knows that Charley must discover who she is without any assistance from the man that she loves, or the people in her life. But it is the loss of someone close that will aid Charley in the recovery of her memories, and all that she holds dear.

I will add, that at times, I kept thinking that part of the premise felt familiar-too familiar- that I was confusing it with another UF series, so much so, that I thought I was reading –ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN by Jennifer Estep. Jennifer’s heroine works at a diner frequented by all of her friends and supernatural beings, and is constantly investigating strange happenings in and around her small town (similarly to NINTH GRAVE). I love both Darynda Jones’s CHARLEY DAVIDSON and Jennifer Estep’s ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN series-a compliment to both authors.

If you are a fan and have read BOTH series, please let me know what you think after reading THE DIRT ON NINTH GRAVE-I can’t be the only reviewer who sees the similarities.

First Grave on the Right
Second Grave on the Left
Third Grave Straight Ahead
Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
Fifth Grave Past The Light
Sixth Grave on the Edge
Seventh Grave and No Body
Eighth Grave After Dark
Brighter Than the Sun
The Dirt on Ninth Grave

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy