Charley Davidson Books in Order
Part ofDarynda Jones Books in OrderThis page lists the Charley Davidson books by Darynda Jones in order, with summaries, series background, and guidance on where to start in this witty paranormal PI and grim reaper romance.
Last updated: December 26, 2025
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Publication Order
20 books
Graveyard Dog
by Darynda Jones
2024
Michael Cavalcante expects a quick middle of the night repair call, not to be tased and knocked out by a terrified single mom who thinks he is part of the motorcycle club hunting her. As her enemies close in, he becomes the unlikely shield between Izzy, her daughter, and a deadly past.
The Grave Robber
by Darynda Jones
2023
Eric Vause is done with anything supernatural after spending years possessed by a demon, until a favor for a friend sends him to a house plagued by a violent ghost. The woman who lives there, Halle, is just as haunted as her home, and helping her may cost Eric his hard won peace.
The Graveside Bar and Grill
by Darynda Jones
2022
Donovan St. James agrees to quietly watch over Sia, the doctor who keeps his rough crew patched up, after a sharp tongued teen insists Sia’s life is in danger. When an ancient entity comes hunting, their uneasy partnership turns into a fight for survival and an unlikely romance.
The Gravedigger’s Son
by Darynda Jones
2021
Quentin Rutherford’s simple job assessing a haunted New Mexico town gets complicated when he runs into Amber Kowalski, the girl he once loved and left. Together they face a vicious supernatural predator, and the investigation becomes a second chance neither of them expected.
The Graveyard Shift
by Darynda Jones
2020
Veteran tracker Garrett Swopes is stuck guarding a precocious little girl who is half human, half divine, and destined to save the world. When she disappears, he is forced to seek help from Marika Dubois, the witch who tricked him into fathering the child he swore to avoid.
Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
by Darynda Jones
2019
After a century long exile from Earth, Charley is suddenly allowed to come home and finds everything in chaos. Determined to fix what she broke, she hunts for answers about her mother’s death, confronts an old enemy, and fights for a future with Reyes and their daughter.
The Trouble with Twelfth Grave
by Darynda Jones
2017
Reyes returns from a hell dimension changed, volatile, and possibly possessed by something ancient. As bodies of supernaturally sensitive humans begin to fall, Charley must uncover who is killing them, tame the feral version of her husband, and keep two teen PIs from getting in over their heads.
Eleventh Grave in Moonlight
by Darynda Jones
2017
Charley takes on a deeply personal case when she investigates the couple who stole Reyes as an infant. At the same time she is learning to live as a newly awakened goddess, guarding her distant daughter while forces from hell try to erase her from this world.
The Dirt on Ninth Grave
by Darynda Jones
2016
In a small New York town, an amnesiac waitress called Jane slowly realizes she can see ghosts. Strangers in the diner clearly know more about her than they admit, and a dark force hunting her makes her question whether the charming fry cook is friend or enemy.
The Curse of Tenth Grave
by Darynda Jones
2016
Back in Albuquerque with her memory restored, Charley returns to PI work just as three malevolent gods arrive on earth with their sights set on her young daughter. To keep the little girl safe, Charley must track and trap the deities while pretending life is almost normal.
Eighth Grave After Dark
by Darynda Jones
2015
Hiding on the grounds of an abandoned convent to stay ahead of the hellhounds stalking her, a very pregnant Charley is bored, restless, and furious. A murdered nun, her father’s unsolved death, and Reyes’s increasingly strange behavior prove that danger can still reach sacred soil.
Brighter Than the Sun
by Darynda Jones
2015
In this prequel novella told from Reyes Farrow’s point of view, a boy raised in brutal captivity clings to the memory of a girl made of light. His history with Charley unfolds from their first supernatural encounter to the moment he decides she might be his salvation or his ruin.
Sixth Grave on the Edge
by Darynda Jones
2014
Engaged to the son of Satan and busy learning what that really means, Charley is also being blackmailed by criminals who want a protected witness found. A lost soul, a haunted Deaf boy, and a mother searching for her child force her to stretch every power she has.
Seventh Grave and No Body
by Darynda Jones
2014
Twelve hellhounds have escaped onto the mortal plane and marked Charley for death, turning every shadow into a threat. While searching for her missing father and probing a rash of suspicious suicides, she starts to suspect that destiny has even bigger plans for her.
Fifth Grave Past the Light
by Darynda Jones
2013
Charley is investigating a series of arsons when dozens of terrified female ghosts begin crowding her apartment. Suspecting a serial killer connected to Reyes’s new nightclub, she races to identify the victims and protect her sister Gemma before the murderer strikes again.
Third Grave Dead Ahead
by Darynda Jones
2012
Running on caffeine and zero sleep to avoid the furious son of Satan who haunts her dreams, Charley takes a case involving a husband who smells guilty of murder. Between a missing wife, a prison break, and motorcycle gangs, her life gets even messier.
Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
by Darynda Jones
2012
Still traumatized by her last case, Charley is hiding out with late night shopping channels when a fragile client insists someone is trying to kill her. As everyone else labels the woman crazy, Charley follows the clues, tracks an arsonist, and struggles to stay away from Reyes.
Second Grave on the Left
by Darynda Jones
2011
When Charley’s best friend drags her out before dawn to search for a missing coworker, they uncover a trail of old school secrets and fresh murders. Meanwhile Reyes Farrow abandons his body to keep demons from using Charley as a gateway to heaven.
For I Have Sinned
by Darynda Jones
2011
A newly dead bride wakes up with no memory of how she died. Seen through the ghost’s eyes, this short Charley Davidson story follows Charley as she unravels the truth and gives the woman the closure she needs to move on.
First Grave on the Right
by Darynda Jones
2011
Smart mouthed private investigator Charley Davidson also happens to be the grim reaper, a walking portal for the dead. When three murdered lawyers beg her to find their killer, she juggles the case, family secrets, and sensual dreams of a mysterious stranger.
Series background & context
Charley Davidson’s world starts in a cramped office over her dad’s bar in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On paper she is a thirty something private investigator who tracks cheating spouses and missing persons. In reality she has been able to see the dead since birth, because she is also the grim reaper, a living doorway that souls can pass through on their way to the other side.
Across First Grave on the Right and the early books, every case Charley takes comes with ghosts attached. Murder victims turn up in her apartment asking for justice, baffled spirits shadow her around town, and homicide detective Uncle Bob quietly relies on her to solve the kind of crimes that leave no living witnesses. Her father, a former cop who once used her gift on the job, worries about the danger but trusts her instincts, while her best friend Cookie supplies caffeine, research skills, and constant backup.
Threaded through those investigations is Reyes Farrow, the man Charley has dreamed about since childhood. To human eyes he is a convict with a brutal history. To Charley he is something far stranger: the son of Satan, a being forged to hunt for a grim reaper on earth and instead hopelessly drawn to her. Their relationship arcs from charged dream visits to fierce, complicated partnership as the series goes on, giving the books a strong romantic heartbeat alongside the mystery plots.
As Charley’s understanding of herself deepens, the scope of the story widens. What begins as a quirky paranormal PI series slowly reveals prophecies, hellhounds, vengeful gods, and a daughter destined to play a role in an oncoming war between heaven and hell. Later novels like The Dirt on Ninth Grave, The Curse of Tenth Grave, and Summoned to Thirteenth Grave push the stakes beyond Albuquerque, throwing Charley into exile, amnesia, and battles that could reshape the universe, all without losing sight of her messy friendships and fractured family.
For readers, a big part of the appeal is tone. The Charley books are told in a fast, first person voice full of jokes, T shirt slogans, and throwaway pop culture references, but the humor sits on top of real loss and trauma. Jones lets her heroine be crass, frightened, loyal, occasionally selfish, and ultimately determined to use enormous power to protect the people around her. Each volume offers a self contained mystery, yet the emotional and supernatural arcs pay off best when read in order.
After the main thirteen novels, a cluster of novellas keeps the universe going. Stories like Brighter Than the Sun, The Graveyard Shift, The Gravedigger’s Son, The Graveside Bar and Grill, The Grave Robber, and Graveyard Dog spotlight side characters such as Reyes, Garrett, Quentin, Amber, Donovan, and others as they take on their own cases and romances. Together they make Charley’s world feel lived in and give fans more time with the dark, funny, fiercely loyal crew they met back in First Grave on the Right.
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