Review--The Trouble with Twelfth Grave by Darynda Jones

Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones' New York Times bestselling paranormal series, The Trouble with Twelfth Grave.

Ever since Reyes Farrow escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley Davidson accidentally trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that's not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the feral being that used to be her husband, she also has to deal with her everyday life of annoying all manner of beings--some corporeal, some not so much--as she struggles to right the wrongs of society. Only this time she's not uncovering a murder. This time she's covering one up.

Add to that her new occupation of keeping a startup PI venture--the indomitable mystery-solving team of Amber Kowalski and Quentin Rutherford--out of trouble and dealing with the Vatican's inquiries into her beloved daughter, and Charley is on the brink of throwing in the towel and becoming a professional shopper. Or possibly a live mannequin. But when someone starts attacking humans who are sensitive to the supernatural world, Charley knows it's time to let loose her razor sharp claws. Then again, her number one suspect is the dark entity she's loved for centuries. So the question becomes: Can she tame the unruly beast before it destroys everything she's worked so hard to protect?

It happened. I knew it would happen but I still did it anyway. I am officially all caught up with Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series! The Trouble with Twelfth Grave was as epic and amazing and astounding as I had anticipated and it had a most grievous cliffhanger indeed!

First up to bat in the game of problems and things that must be overcome is the fact that when Reyes returned from the hell dimension/prison, he came back very different as in not Reyes at all but Rey’azikeen, his former self that was a bit more demon and evil like. Charley is determined to get Reyes back whatever the cost, but it seems Rey’azikeen has his own agenda and is searching for something that he believes is lost.

Add in a string of murders that not even Charley can solve right away, having a completely different murder happen in which her friend Peri is a suspect and dishing out PI advice to Amber and Quentin who are running their own business among their schoolmates and Charley has a very full plate on her lap. That she hasn’t slept well since Reyes vanished doesn’t help matters anyway, but as we all know, coffee helps. Coffee helps a lot!

There was a lot going on in this one, as tends to happen in the world of Charley Davidson! But as I’ve said before, it’s never an overwhelming amount of information or too much happening that you can’t focus. It’s all done exceedingly well! Things tend to click together in the end.

I did make the mistake of starting this beauty right before the holidays and madness started, so I pretty much had a large 4 days break in between reading. I can’t remember all my thoughts and feels over the first half of the book, but it’s pretty obvious that it was a most enjoyable read! That much I do remember!

While we don’t really have Reyes present in this book, Rey’azikeen is still there and a part of him is drawn to Charley for reasons he can’t explain. While it may not really seem as romantic as Charley and Reyes’ previous romantic interludes, there is a bit of steamy lovin in this one. It’s awkward to explain how to feel about it. Yes it’s still hot like all Charley and Reyes moments, but knowing it’s not 100% Reyes was hard to deal with. It didn’t give off cheating vibes or anything, it just didn’t have that intimacy that comes from these kinds of moments like this previously.

Things got really, really intense in the grand finale of this one! Like OMG WTFreak just happened there?! It was insane! And that ending?! That cliffhanger?! What the heck?! And now I’ve committed myself to a deviously loooooong wait until the final book?! Why didn’t someone stop me before I picked up book 11? I could’ve avoided sooo much heartbreak if I done that. Yes, I’d still be pretty freaking behind, but this agony?! Oh this agony will be unbearable!! Let’s just say that this particular ending shattered my heart multiple times and now I’m in a state of emptiness. I have no idea where I think things will be going now because holy cow, that ending!!!

No need to reiterate how much I enjoyed this one! This series is just so freaking awesome! It’s been a thrill ride ever since day one with book one! There is so much to enjoy about this series that I can’t love it enough! I do believe the next book is the grand finale so I will anxiously be awaiting Halloween so that I may obtain a copy of it asap and read it and then you know, likely be destroyed --n the best possible way of course—by its stellar conclusion! Why is October so far away?!

I highly recommend this series to pretty much to anyone! It’s got something for everyone to love, paranormal goodness, laugh out loud humor, chilling mysteries, sizzling romance, and characters that you will continue to root for! Charley Davidson has it all!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars