Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

Grave Dance by Kalayna Price

Book Stats:
Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban fantasy
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Roc
Release date: July 5, 2011

Series: Alex Craft #2

Source: Personal shelf

Reviewed by: Jenn

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Whoever said dead men tell no tales obviously never met Alex Craft.

After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil thanks to the disappearance of Fae Investigation Bureau agent Falin Andrews and a shocking “L” word confession from Death himself, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge.

The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. The strange part: There are no corpses, only fragments of them. A serial killer is potentially on the loose, and Alex has no way to raise a shade without a body, so she’ll have to rely on the magic of others to find leads. But as she begins investigating, a creature born of the darkest magic comes after her. Someone very powerful wants to make sure the only thing she finds is a dead end—her own.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed GRAVE DANCE. I’d forgotten how much I liked GRAVE WITCH until I re-read it a while ago (and then dared you to read it) and I think GRAVE DANCE was even better than its predecessor!

GRAVE DANCE begins with Alex still dealing with the aftermath of GRAVE WITCH. We learn that Falin, her love interest, took off shortly after everything in the first novel, and Alex hasn’t seen him since. Alex is also trying to figure out how to deal with the fact that Death loves her, something that leaves her at a complete loss. Thankfully, there's at least one positive outcome from the events of GRAVE WITCH: Alex has plenty of business, thanks to her time in the spotlight. Her latest case is a creepy one: a bunch of found feet, courtesy of the Nekros Police Department. Her initial work on this case is what spurs the rest of the action in GRAVE DANCE -- and let me tell you, there is plenty of action!

Alex's investigation of the mysterious feet leads her into an even deeper tangle with the fae, despite her desire to avoid them. It's a lot of fun -- at least for the reader -- since we get to see more of the fae world. Kalayna Price didn't explore it too heavily in GRAVE WITCH but the fae and their ways definitely figure more heavily in GRAVE DANCE. The new developments force Alex to test the limits of her powers and deal with her recently discovered heritage. There are some wonderful scenes with folks from Faerie but I don't wnat to talk about it too much to avoid spoiling things for you all.

In fact, it's hard to talk about GRAVE DANCE without mentioning stuff from the end of GRAVE WTICH so I'll sign off by saying that Kalayna Price has done a marvellous job of crafting a roller coaster that introduces her readers to new parts of Alex's world and includes incredible magic and some delicious moments with her men.

Read an excerpt

Posted by jenn at 07:09

 Fey/Faeries, Kalayna Price, Penguin, Review, Witch  23 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.