First Grave on the Right

Author: Darynda Jones

Series: Charley Davidson, Book 1

Year: 2011

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Narrator: Lorelei King

Goodreads Description:

A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper

Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

I was really worried when I decided to download these books. First off, I love the Stephanie Plum books and this series is directly compared with the Plum books everywhere I look. On top of that, they're narrated by Lorelei King (the same lady who narrates the Stephanie Plum books). Recently, I'd had issues with listening to the latest Eragon book because Gerard Doyle narrates both them and the Septimus Heap books and I couldn't get the Septimus Heap books out of my head when I was listening to the last book. So, this audiobook had a lot of strikes against it before I even started. But I shouldn't have worried. Lorelei King is an amazing narrator and she amazing here. Yes, I did hear some of the same voices from the Stephanie Plum books but it wasn't distracting and not once did I find myself getting the series mixed. So kudos to King and if you're considering listening to a book narrated by her - have no fear. She's amazing.

Now onto First Grave on the Right. I loved it. It was fun, light-hearted, sexy and fast-paced. The dialogue is witty and sarcastic and Charley is a wonderful main character. It's so much fun listening to her dealing with the ghosts that pop in and out of her daily life. There's so much potential with Garret and Reyes as main characters. Yes, the story was a bit cliched at times but when I was laughing out loud at the book, I can handle the cliches.  Hmmm, should I listen to the second book in this series or the next Night Huntress book first? Decisions, decisions.