Daring You To Read...Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

For my pick this week, I’m going with a book from 2010 -- a little bit newer than some of the other books I’ve offered up but still old enough to qualify. =) I recently re-read Grave Witch in preparation for starting its sequel, Grave Dance, and I decided to use it today because I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the story.

Grave Witch is set in an alternate timeline, one in which the Fae came out of the proverbial closet about 70 years ago in the Magical Awakening. This led to humans exploring their magical abilities and now fae, witches, and norms mix and mingle with varying degrees of happiness. Grave Witch is set in Nekros City, a fictional city in the American South, and revolves around Alex Craft, a private investigator and police consultant gifted in grave magic. There are many types of magic in the world but grave magic is rare, giving its user the ability to communicate with ghosts, see souls, and, importantly for Alex’s job, raise shades, which are essentially imprints that get left behind when people die.

Alex is a great main character. She’s got daddy issues, money problems, great friends, and really cool magic. And she’s got a special relationship with a very good-looking Death. Unfortunately for her, things start going wrong when she starts a new case and is attacked by the shade she’s raising. This is the start of a wonderful story that is accentuated by lovely world building, steamy scenes, elegantly explained magic, and strong characters.

If that’s not enough to sell you, here are a few more points:

* Alex has a great business name: Tongues of the Dead.

* Death is a sexy dude that only Alex can see.

* Alex shares her living space with Fred the gargoyle and PC, the world's most ridiculous (and adorable) dog.

* The cover quote from Chloe Neill: “Fascinating magic, a delicious heartthrob, and a fresh, inventive world.”

Grave witch Alex Craft can speak to the dead, but that doesn’t mean she likes what they have to say . . .

As a private investigator and consultant for the police, Alex Craft has seen a lot of dark magic. But even though she’s on good terms with Death himself—who happens to look fantastic in a pair of jeans—nothing has prepared her for her latest case. Alex is investigating a high profile murder when she’s attacked by the ‘shade’ she’s raising, which should be impossible. To top off her day, someone makes a serious attempt on her life, but Death saves her. Guess he likes having her around . . .

To solve this case Alex will have to team up with tough homicide detective Falin Andrews. Falin seems to be hiding something—though it’s certainly not his dislike of Alex—but Alex knows she needs his help to navigate the tangled webs of mortal and paranormal politics, and to track down a killer wielding a magic so malevolent, it may cost Alex her life . . . and her soul.

Tynga’s review

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

The rest of the series (so far):

 

Grave Memory is scheduled for release in July. I can’t wait!

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Want to participate in Daring You To Read? Here’s how:

- You choose a book you’ve read, loved and would dare your readers to read!

- The book you choose must be an older release (at least 6 months ago), because let’s be honest, we’re all quite aware of the latest releases.

- Write your own blog post, using the button and linking back to Tynga’s Reviews, inviting your readers to read your chosen book.

- Come back on Tynga’s Reviews and put your link in the linking tool.

- Browse other bloggers Dare and let them know if you’ve read their featured book, or plan on reading it.

- Super easy and an awesome way to discover that special book who might have slipped off your radar!

Don’t forget to add your own Daring You To Read… post in the linky below.

Posted by jenn at 04:33

 Daring You to Read, Kalayna Price, Penguin  11 People left their mark

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.