Fifth Grave Past the Light

One of my favorite heroines is at it again as she stars in her latest book, Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones.  Charley Davidson is the grim reaper---but she's not just your normal, everyday grim reaper.  Charley is a tough, private investigator who sees dead people, solves crimes, and serves as a portal through which dead folks pass through her to reach "the other side."  Her only real problem in life is her attraction to sexy, sultry Reyes Farrow, the son of Satan, who has moved into the apartment next to hers!  Reyes is the main suspect in Charley's unsolved arson case and with the the help of her police detective Uncle Bob, she vows to solve the arson case and clear Reyes' name.  The investigation is at a standstill until Charley opens her apartment door one day and finds 27 dead blonde women hovering around.

Charley deduces that the dead women have been murdered by a serial killer and when Charley realizes her own sister, Gemma, is a target, she is forced to ask Reyes for his help in solving the case.  Reyes agrees to help Charley but at a price...he wants all of her, body and soul.  Is that too big of a price for Charley to pay?  This novel is fast-paced and humorous and has just a few paranormal elements.  I suggest reading this series in order, as the characters grow with each book and the stories build on previous events.  Darynda Jones won a Golden Heart and a RITA for her first novel in the Charley Davidson series, First Grave on the Right. She lives in New Mexico with her husband and two beautiful sons and can be reached on the Internet at www.daryndajones.com.

After Dead

This post is for all of my fellow reader friends out there who are also mourning the end of the "Sookie Stackhouse" series.  I just finished reading After Dead the new Charlaine Harris novel.  This book was written by Harris in response to the enormous amount of questions she received from her readers while she was writing the thirteenth and final novel in the series.  Readers wanted to know what happened to many characters who had appeared in other books but just couldn't be in the final book. So, in Charlaine Harris' own words, "in the

interest of satisfying the readers who've been following Sookie's adventures for years, I herewith present my coda to the books that have dominated my professional life for over a decade."  This book is organized alphabetically by the names of the characters and it is truly an interesting read!  I enjoyed finding out what had happened to many of my favorite characters and even though the book is short, it is a must read for every Sookie Stackhouse fan.  Charlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author for both her Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly Prime Crime mystery series, and she has lived in the South her entire life.  Please visit Charlaine Harris on the web at www.charlaineharris.com or at facebook.com/CharlaineHarris.

Don of the Dead

Casey Daniels' Don of the Dead is the first volume in the Pepper Martin mystery series.  Pepper is beautiful and chic and never had to work...until her surgeon dad was convicted of fraud and sentenced to federal prison.  Her family fortune dried up and her fiance' left her for greener pastures, so Pepper was forced to take the only job she could get--tour guide in a cemetery.  The job is boring but Pepper is a good tour guide until she trips one day and hits her head on a mausoleum.  Suddenly, she begins to see (and hear) Augustino "Gus" Scarpetti, a mob don murdered many years ago.  Gus is unable to "move on" until he discovers who shot him, and since he is hampered by being a ghost, he decides that Pepper is the perfect substitute for his investigations!  Gus is a macho man who likes to be the boss, but he and Pepper team together in order to find his killer.  As Pepper delves deeper into the mystery, she uncovers more layers of mafia secrets and soon she becomes the object of a hit man too!  Will Pepper uncover the killer before the killer gets her?  Pepper is a spunky heroine and has her own share of romance issues.  This book is sure to please paranormal mystery fans.

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

I've got the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day-read a paranormal mystery/romance!  Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet is the fourth mystery in the series written by Darynda Jones and starring Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper Extraordinaire. Besides being a sexy scythe swinger, Charley is also a Private Investigator, and the case she solved in the third book was a real doozy.  This fourth book in the series opens with Charley taking a couple of months off of life to hide in her apartment, lick her wounds and wallow in self-pity.  With the help of an intervention planned by her sister, Gemma, her secretary Cookie and her police detective Uncle Bob, Charley shakes off her grief to investigate the mystery of a woman who shows up on her doorstep convinced that someone is trying to kill her.  The woman's rich family thinks she is making the whole stalking story up, but Charley is determined to set the woman's mind at ease, while she assists dead people who are attracted to her light, helping them "cross over" to the other side.  Meanwhile, Charley is trying to avoid confrontations with the sexy, sultry, Reyes Farrow, son of Satan and the man with the uncanny ability of showing up to save her life at opportune moments.  Charley knows she should stay away from Reyes but something about him is irresistible.  Also thrown into the mix is Charley's anger at her dad, who turned on her in book three and whom she has not forgiven or been able to speak to.  This book is another hilarious installment in this New York Times bestselling series.  If you are not familiar with this series, start with the first one, First Grave on the Right. Darynda Jones lives in New Mexico with her husband and two sons--check her out onlinie at www.daryndajones.com. 

Deadlocked

Deadlocked is the new novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series written by Misssissippi native Charlaine Harris. This novel is as full of action and character development as the other novels in the series. In this book, the Vampire Queen shows up to wreak havoc on Sookie and Eric's relationship, and the book opens up with the death of a half-were girl on Eric's front lawn, very soon after Eric has fed on her.  Sookie and Bill Compton, the official Area Five Investigator,commit to solving the mystery, figuring out what the Queen wants and dealing with the outlaw fairies in the area.  Meanwhile, many of Sookie's friends are having problems of their own with marriages, proposals and new babies.  Sam also has a few plans that involve the bar, Merlotte's, where Sookie works, and these plans involve Sookie too!  The story is another great installment in thhis series that promises to get better and better.  I do reccommend reading these books in order as the characters' actions build on the events of the previous books. Connect online with Charlaine Harris at www.charlaineharris.com or at facebook.com/CharlaineHarris

The Seventh Witch

The Seventh Witch is the latest book in the Ophelia and Abby Jensen series by Shirley Damsgaard. Ophelia is a small-town librarian in Iowa who has inherited her supernatural talents from a long line of her ancestors. Her grandmother, Abby is talented also, and together they make a great team. The setting of this book is a change from the usual--Ophelia, Abby and Ophelia's adopted daughter Tink travel to the hills of North Carolina for Great-Aunt Mary's 100th birthday. In this small southern town, Ophelia's family is known for its magical abilities, but a vengeful local witch wants revenge for events from the past. Ophelia must use her talents to save her loved ones, before revenge takes them over and bad blood turns deadly! I love the family relationships in this series, as well as Ophelia's reluctant acceptance of her witch heritage. I recommend reading this series in order, as the relationships develop throughout the books.

Shhh....it's a Grave Secret

I am a big fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire Series." Even though that series (and the HBO series "True Blood" which is based on the books) has made Harris more popular, I am pleased to note that she is still writing new books in her "Harper Connelly series." The newest title is Grave Secrets, and the book traces the events of the lives of Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver. Harper and Tolliver are not related by blood-- Harper's mom and Tolliver's dad were married after Harper and Tolliver were born. Harper and Tolliver have a unique relationship, as they banded together to survive their horrible childhood with drug-addicted parents, struggling to attend school and work enough so that they could take care of their little sisters Gracie and Mariella. Harper was a normal girl, until she was struck by lightning--ever since then she has been able to "hear" the thoughts of dead people by standing on their graves and using her "extra sense" to learn their last thoughts before they died. This talent is especially helpful when it comes to finding murderers and other types of secrets. When Grave Secrets opens, Harper has been hired by a Texas rancher family to discover how the patriarch of the family died. The police were satisfied that it was an accident, but at least one of his children believes it could be foul play. When Harper puts her talents to work, she finds plenty of secrets in this Texas family, that eventually bleed into her own life and add to the mystery of her oldest sister's disappearance. I love the character development in this book! Harper and Tolliver are very "real" to me and I enjoy the "family developments" in the book, almost as much as the mystery. I have enjoyed watching Harper and Tolliver's relationship develop (you'll have to read the book to find out what happens) as well as the bits of their childhood experiences that Harris weaves into the story. This book is a great blend of suspense, action, romance and paranormal mystery that is a fast and easy read. Try it out this book, or one of the others in the series (Grave Secret, Grave Surpise, An Ice Cold Grave) and let us know if you like it!