The Curse of Tenth Grave (Charley Davidson, #10)

The Curse of Tenth Grave
by Darynda Jones
Rating: ★★★★½
isbn: 9781250078193
Series: Charlie Davidson #10
Publication Date: June 4, 2016
Pages: 342
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

If one door closes and another one opens,
your house is probably haunted.
—Bumper Sticker

As a Part-time PI and fulltime grim reaper, Charley Davidson has asked a lot of questions throughout her life: Why can I see dead people? Who is the hot supernatural entity following me? How do I get gum out of my sister’s hair before she wakes up? But, “How do I trap not one malevolent god, but three?” was never among them. Until now. And since those gods are on earth to kill her daughter, she has little choice but to track them down, trap them, and cast them from this dimension.

Those are just a few of the questions Charley must answer, and quick. Add to that a homeless girl running for her life, an innocent man who’s been charged with murdering the daughter of a degenerate gambler, and a pendant made from god glass that has the entire supernatural world in an uproar, and Charley has her hands full. If she can manage to take care of the whole world-destroying-gods thing, we’re saved. If not, well…

Ah, this is much better.  We’re back in New Mexico, Charley’s home and she has more than a couple of very cool cases.  She’s owning who she is in a rather fabulous way; neither all good nor all bad and only either when it’s necessary.

The only bee in my bonnet was the whole relationship let’s-not-talk-about-what’s-bothering-us trope, and it was followed up by what should have been a fabulous scene consisting of several pages of Charley and Reyes talking everything out and uh…other stuff.  In fairness, it was a good scene, but at that point I was itching to move the mythological story line along, so it was definitely my impatience, not Jones’ failure.  On a side note, I’m totally going to use the Twister idea the next time my nieces are fighting (read the book; it’s not as weird as it sounds).

Jones kept me waiting for the mythology, but when she delivered, she delivered big.  Fascinating stuff, tons of reveals, although it seems she’s going further than just stretching classical biblical mythology, using it instead as a springboard for a much larger polytheistic mythology of her own.  I think she’s missed the point of Jehovah’s true nature, but I’m still on board – I want to see if she’ll take forgiveness as far as it actually goes.  Lots of good theological conversation starters here.

Can’t wait for 11!