Book 8, 2020

[chez_jae]

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I stayed up past my bedtime last night, but I had to finish reading Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones. It's the fourth installment in the "Charley Davidson" urban fantasy series, with the main character of Charlotte "Charley" Davidson, who is a PI...and a grim reaper.

After the events of the third book, Charley is suffering from PTSD. As a result, she's holed up in her apartment and begun binge shopping via TV programs. It's not until a woman seeks her out, wanting to hire Charley because she's convinced that someone is trying to kill her, that Charley starts to claw her way out of her own doldrums.

Charley now has a case to sink her teeth into, her family are trying to stage an intervention, she's not speaking to her father, the son of Satan is out hunting demons on her behalf, she can't help but think there's something familiar about a group of robbers who've been holding up local banks, an arsonist is setting fires all over Albuquerque, and things are coming to a head faster than she's prepared for. All in a day's work for the Grim Reaper!

Although this story was humorous, like others in the series, the underlying issue of Charley's trauma made it less...lite. She was still capable of snappy lines and comebacks, but things that she dove into without fear previously now gave her pause. Fortunately for Charley, she has a very strong (if unusual!) support system around her.

Favorite lines:
♦ If liars were the main course at a Shriners convention, she'd be a pork chop.
♦ I'd never longed for an invisibility cloak as much as I did at that moment.
♦ Well, that sucked more ass than liposuction.
♦ If you must eat a banana in public, never make eye contact.

Delightfully fun, and I rocked through it in one day. Love these books, highly recommend! Five stars.