Charley Davidson—grim reaper extraordinaire, private investigator . . . meh—is practicing her profession under the influence, caffeine and copious amounts of it, due to an extreme desire to induce insomnia. Every time she closes her eyes, Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan, is there. Only thing is, he’s a tad peeved. She did bind for all eternity, so it’s hard blame him. But 13 days without a wink is bound to bring out the crazy in a girl. So, when a man hires her to find his wife, Charley accepts the job with one goal in mind: Put the man behind bars, and not the wet kind. She can sense the guilt waft off him and vows to find the woman’s body and prove he’s a murderer.

In the meantime, Reyes is back in prison and none too happy about it . . . so Charley thinks, until she is carjacked by the dark-haired rake, who swears the very man he went to prison for killing is not only alive, but close by. And he wants Charley to find him.

While a visit to her old friend Rocket sheds no light on Reyes’s situation, Charley finds out the man’s wife is still alive and time is running out. Finding her before she dies would be a miracle, but she has to try. Together with the help of a fashion-impaired receptionist named Cookie, Charley sets out to bring the bad guys to justice. She just hopes Reyes is not one of them. And that she’s not hallucinating from her self-induced bout with insomnia.

REVIEW

This is definitely my favourite storyline of the series so far. It's a culmination of bits and pieces of story threads we've been getting over the last two books. And again, it's proven my developing theory that when you make someone laugh and feel all happy and comfortable, it only hits them that much harder -like a sledge hammer to the gut harder- when something ...unsettling happens, because they're just not expecting it.

I cried. This book made me cry!

Charley Davidson, aka the Grip Reaper, aka Private Detective extraordinaire, is a very funny lady, as anyone who's read books one and two will know. Charley Davidson after nearly two weeks of trying to stay awake because she's scared of what Reyes Farrows might do to her in her sleep, is freaking hilarious! She may or may not be slightly more than human, but 13 days of no sleep will catch up with the best of us. There's only so much coffee in the world. This makes for some of the funniest dialogue scenes I have ever read. Ever.

I really enjoyed the main mystery this time. Charley is hired in her PI capacity to find a missing wife. Again. But it's a very different story this time. She also gets delivered a prophesy of sorts at the beginning of the book which makes you very worried about exactly whom it involves throughout the rest of the story. And even though you know it's coming, it really doesn't lessen the blow.

Did I mention I cried?

I think the other reason it's my favourite is the further development of Reyes' character. I felt like I got to see him more as a real person. Whether or not I liked all that I saw...well that's a different question all together, isn't it. All I know is I want more. Lots more. I have a feeling that, now that we've wrapped up certain events that the bigger story arc is going to make itself known. And since we are already three books in before this happens, this makes me hopeful that this series has a long way to go yet before it runs its course. I truly hope so.

Can't wait until October for Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet.

5 Fabulous Stars! ★★★★★