Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
 By Darynda Jones

I have enjoyed this series so much that I decided to skip books two and three and review book four. You can read my first review here. Of course, I did not enjoy that book but I wanted you to read it anyway because the next books are awesome. This book is no exception.

What I really liked about Fourth Grave is that the plot carries over from the previous book and Charley is portrayed as vulnerable. She had a huge trauma happen to her at the end of book three and she is trying to recover. She has not left her apartment in months and spends her days purchasing unnecessary stuff from the home shopping channels. Her money and her credit limit are running out. Her friends and family are tired of seeing her in such sorry shape. Then a woman comes to her asking for help. Something about this situation gets Charley moving and eventually on her way to being healed.

I also liked the fact that Reyes is no longer a spirit-like visitor but actually comes around in the flesh. Although Charley is trying to avoid Reyes as well as her own father, the reader can't help but notice both of them are doing all they can to help her. I especially liked Reyes' attack on the "area 51" in Charley's living room where her trauma happened in the previous book.

Charley is also finally actually solving mysteries as she had done in the previous two books. I enjoyed the mysteries which -- unlike some other popular books -- are actually mysteries. And Jones managed to really surprise me which I was not expecting.

What did this book have to do with my faith? Charley -- and Reyes -- were both something else in heaven/hell before they were born in this time and place. Although this sounds like a far-fetched fantasy, this kind of thinking is actually biblical and theologically historical. It is just not something we Christians often think about. The Christian understanding is that Jesus, as part of the Holy Trinity, was always around, even before his birth on earth. If you don't believe it, read the beginning of the gospel of John. Jesus was the Word that God spoke and Jesus existed from the beginning. This is a hard concept to get my head around. Almost sounds like reincarnation. Yet, it is a part of our Christian tradition. I want to say I believe in this but it also sounds pretty fantastical. I suppose not much more fantastical than Charley's own story.

I highly recommend Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet!

Happy reading!

Amelia