Graveyard Dog by Darynda Jones [Review]

Graveyard Dog (Charley Davidson #13.9) by Darynda Jones
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: May 28, 2025

Charley Davidson
1. First Grave on the Right
1.5. For I Have Sinned
2. Second Grave on the Left
3. Third Grave Dead Ahead 
4. Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet
5. Fifth Grave Past the Light
6. Sixth Grave on the Edge
7. Seventh Grave and No Body
8. Eighth Grave After Dark
8.5. Brighter Than the Sun
9. The Dirt on Ninth Grave
10. The Curse of Tenth Grave
11. Eleventh Grave in Moonlight
12. The Trouble with Twelfth Grave
13. Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
13.5. The Graveyard Shift
13.6. The Gravedigger's Son
13.7. The Graveside Bar and Grill
13.8. The Grave Robber
13.9. Graveyard Dog - Paperback | Kindle

Darynda Jones
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Michael Cavalcante has one thing on his mind when he knocks on Izzabel Walsh’s door at two in the morning, half-dressed and a bit toasted: fix the woman’s heater and get back to bed. He vows never to cover for his maintenance tech again, especially after he gets tased and knocked out with a frying pan for his efforts.

Izzy thought she was safe. She’d dyed her hair, changed her name, and moved 1,500 miles away, and still they found her. When a member of her ex’s motorcycle club knocks on her door in the middle of the night, supposedly to fix a perfectly good heater, Izzy panics. Not only have they found her, but they would soon discover she has a daughter. Aka, a weakness. Aka, leverage. She needs time to think. To plan. To figure out how to keep the sexy neanderthal quiet. But she has no idea how to, short of murder. Can she win him over to her side? Or will he be just like all the others once he finds out what she is capable of?

Michael has one chance to convince Izzy he doesn’t want to harm her or her daughter, but more than that, he wants to know who does. And why. And where he can find them. After all, how else is he going to make sure the two sprites, who have wound their way into his heart, are safe?

Thoughts on Graveyard Dog: It's always fun spending time in Charley's world where her tricksy daughter maneuvers people she believes will be needed in the upcoming battle on a game board only she can see. Admittedly, I don't KNOW only Elwyn can see it. Maybe others can too. But the powerful kiddo sees things and she puts things in motion to make those things come to fruition.

This time around, she KNOWS Michael and Izzy would be perfect for one another so she orchestrates a meeting between them. One in which Izzy brains Michael with a frying pan, ties him to her dishwasher, and makes plans to escape before anyone realizes anything is wrong. HA. Yeah, Michael's not thrilled with the braining part.

He is, however, enchanted by both Izzy and her too-wise-for-her-years daughter. Between Izzy's abilities and the walk-in setting up camp in her kiddo, he starts to get an inkling that maybe Elwyn had a hand in bringing them together. This is ultimately irrelevant since Izzy needs his help and he's not one to abandon people who need him.

A feisty spirit who might be older than they think, a kiddo who's good at trusting her gut, a bad guy with a birdhouse fetish, a man who is a protector to the core, and a lady who has a hard time trusting when good things happen to her. *thumbs up* all around.