Book Review: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

Grave Witch
Author: Kalayna Price
Narrator: Emily Durante
Publication: Tantor Media; Unabridged,MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (April 19, 2011) & Roc (October 5, 2010)

Description: Not even death can save her now. 

As a grave witch, Alex Craft can speak to the dead-she's even on good terms with Death himself. As a consultant for the police, she's seen a lot of dark magic, but nothing has prepared her for her latest case. When she's raising a "shade" involved in a high profile murder, it attacks her, and then someone makes an attempt on her life. Someone really doesn't want her to know what the dead have to say, and she'll have to work with mysterious homicide detective Falin Andrews to figure out why...

My Thoughts: This was sort of an unusual experience for me. I started listening to this one on audio as I was traveling. I loved the narrator's voice and was quickly caught up in the story. The miles and hours of the trip flew by. But the trip wasn't long enough to finish the book and my daily commute is only about three minutes long. 

Alex Craft is a grave witch. She can call up shades who can tell their story and who can't lie. She is currently involved in a court case which will have Alex call up the victim of a murder. This will be a first. However, she is short of cash. So when her estranged sister hires her to check into the suspicious death of the former governor, Alex takes the job. She quickly learns that things are not at all straight-forward. 

A friend of hers on the police force gets her into the morgue in exchange for her help raising the shade of a victim in a case he is working. Alex learns all sorts of interesting and confusing things before she is kicked out by Detective Falin Andrews. But not before she is scratched by the shade she raises and infected with some sort of black magic spell that no one can see. 

When the road trip was over, I switched to the Kindle version of the book and finished it there. I really enjoyed both listening to and reading this story. Price has created an interesting world with witches, soul collectors, and fae. Even more, she has redrawn the landscape of the United States to include land where magic happens and the anti-magic party is strong. Alex herself is an interesting character who had to deal with the downsides of her magical abilities as well as the upside. Yes, she can see into the grave but she pays for it my being almost completely night blind and by losing her vision for a while when she lets go of her grave sight. 

I liked Falin and I liked her other love interest - Death - too. I also liked that Alex really didn't know what to do with either of them as love interests. She is used to having one night stands but not relationships. I am eager to keep reading this series to find out how she deals with the men in her life. 

Favorite Quote:

"If I'm not different, then I'm just another man you've picked to chase off your grave-chill with my body heat. And you are just a woman whose body will help me ignore the spelled drink surging through my system."

My stomach twisted at the words. Just a woman? Just a body? But he was right. We were exactly what each other needed at the moment. Nothing more.

I bought this audiobook from Tantor Media and had previously purchased the print book for my Kindle. You can buy your copy at Tantor Media or Amazon.