Sometimes when you’ve read a fantastic book it can be a hard act to follow, so perhaps that why I wasn’t immediately pulled into this book. Grave Witch is the start of the Alex Craft series by Kalayna Price. Alex is a low rent “Magic eye” (a derogatory term for a witch private investigator), but her abilities are anything but.
She can to speak to the dead—even to the point of befriending Death himself—making her a valuable asset for the police. And her skills are needed now more than ever for a high profile murder case that puts her life and the lives of those close to her on the line. Even with the aid of the mysterious detective Falin Andrews, the powers that be in the supernatural and human world may be more of a challenge than she can handle.
The book isn’t a difficult read at all, so even though I didn’t find myself invested in the plot until the half-way point, it was certainly bearable. I think Alex has relatable qualities. She doesn’t really carry that “too stupid to live” attitude like a number of other heroines. There were scenes where I could imagine other heroines taking a more self-righteous route, but Alex is young, poor, and struggling, and her reactions to adversity are more realistic as a result of this. It was refreshing.
Thankfully, I was prepared for a love triangle ahead of time. Sometimes that helps my mindset, but I am still not a fan of the idea. At this point in this series it isn’t too annoying, but this is only the introduction to the series so I am expecting a lot of development in the following books. So far I don’t have a preference because I have enjoyed the screentime with both Death and Falin. But it’s also a little too familiar. It’s not the only series where the heroine’s guardian angel (of sorts) develops feelings for her while carrying disdain for her current otherworldly boy toy.
While I don’t give the series many points for originality, it doesn’t quite feel like a throwaway. It’s a solid read, there’s room to grow, and I will read the next book just to see where things go.
I wasn’t expecting too much out of this series so I wasn’t really disappointed. It is a nice fill in to read between other series that I have read. I just finished the 3rd book, “Grave Memories”. Most of it was pretty good, I think this is probably the best one of the series so far. She did really leave it on a cliffhanger with the love triangle and who knows when the next book will come out, so that is a little irritating. But overall an enjoyable read. 🙂
Next book is due out on August 6, 2013. I’m about a third into book 2 and I still don’t like one better than the other.
I enjoyed the series and I will finish the series, but it is no Hollow Series or Dresden Files…
It certainly is not, though I haven’t read the Dresden books yet, but I probably will. If not in 2013 (likely late), then in 2014. Those books are nowhere near finished anyway I hear…
I agree with your review. It is good and gets better toward the second half, but is nothing sensational. I don’t like the idea of the character of Death. I do like the detective and the weird triangle with that though.