The Trouble with Twelfth Grave - Review

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave (Charley Davidson, # 12)

By: Darynda Jones

Expected Publication: October 31st 2017 by St. Martin's Press

289 pages

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

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Goodreads description--Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series.

Ever since Reyes escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley accidently 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?

I just finished The Trouble with Twelfth Grave, and I am still reeling. Darynda Jones... you did good. You did good. One of my only issues with this entire series has been that I haven't been surprised by any of the twists. Well, that changed with this book.

I was torn over how to feel about Charley finally having to face off against an evil Reyes. The frequency of Reyes's potential evilness was so constantly brought up throughout the series that it would have felt like it was a waste of time to never have explored this. But it also felt so obvious that we would have to face this eventually so that when it came to be, it felt anticlimactic. Well Darynda Jones, I'm sorry I questioned you in this area. You wrote this and worked this part of the story in such a way that I feel in awe. I spent so much of the book thinking "is this it?" that when things finally picked up I truly was blown away with how much I enjoyed the process.

What Reyes was after that was a big mystery to Charley through the majority of the book felt painfully obvious to me. Especially given her skills as a private investigator. How everything worked out made me okay with this, but it was certainly something I felt some frustration over while reading.

Charley spent much more of the book focused on getting Reyes back from the evil god that has taken him over, but as per usual, Charley has several side mysteries going on. It always amazes me how Darynda Jones can slip so many side stories into each of these books. Some of them are short pieces yet they are always comprehensive.

The ultimate cliffhanger has me dying to get my hands on the next book. I've found that there are really two types of cliffhangers (maybe more, but for the purpose of this discussion I'll focus on two). One leaves the reader with hope and possibility. The other with dread and anxiety. This one was the later. I find that I easily get frustrated with this type of cliffhanger. While it can propel me forward in the story, oftentimes it has me dreading to read what comes next because of the trouble the characters will face.

The Trouble with Twelfth Grave wrapped up so much better than I expected given where things started. Despite the weight on Charley's shoulders, she maintains her humor, sarcasm, and general irreverence. I can't say that I was 100% stoked about the cliffhanger, but it serves it's purpose because I'm dying to know what happens next. The Trouble with Twelfth Grave gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read The Trouble with Twelfth Grave? What did you think? Let me know!