Review: Grave Dance - Kalayna Price

'Memories hid in every cell of the body.  Memories that my grave magic could unlock and give shape as a shade. Of course, that depended on having enough of the body at my disposal for my magic to fill in the gaps.'

After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, Grave Witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil thanks to the disappearance of FIB agent Falin Andrews and Death's shocking 'L'-word confession, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be more of a challenge than she was expecting.

The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in a nature preserve. The strange part? There are no bodies, just fragments of them.  With a probable serial killer on the loose and no way to raise a shade without a body, Alex will have to rely solely on her ability to sense the grave to lead her to the dead. But with the strain of overusing her magic, this might be the last case Alex ever solves . . . 

Alex Craft Series:
Grave Witch
Grave Dance
Ruby Red (Short Story in the Kicking It anthology)
Grave Memory
Grave Visions
Grave Ransom
Grave Destiny

Visit Kalayna Price's website for more information

Review:
Alex uses her grave magic to raise shades from dead bodies, these shades have all of the memories that the person had and she is often asked to use her ability to help the police solve murders. When the police contact her they usually have the whole body though. This time all they have is a mysterious pile of left feet and no idea how the people they belonged to were killed. Alex agrees to help but how can she solve the murders when they don't even know who the victims are?

I really enjoyed Grave Witch, the first book in Kalayna Price's Alex Craft series so had high hopes for Grave Dance and picked it up immediately after finishing the first book. I wasn't disappointed and if anything this book was even more action packed than the last. It definitely had me turning the pages and I was annoyed when anything interrupted my reading time - after all who needs sleep when there's a good book to be read?

In Grave Witch we are introduced to two very different potential love interests and while I didn't think I'd enjoy another triangle the author managed to convince me otherwise and I found it impossible to choose between Falin and Death. Although I'm enjoying the triangle I was a little nervous that it might start to take over the majority of the story line so I was pleased to see that didn't happen. This book focuses much more on the investigation into the random body parts that the police keep finding. It also lets us discover much more about Alex's abilities as a grave witch and her family history. We learn a lot more about the Fae realms and the Winter Queen's Court and I'm very curious to see where the series takes us next. The story steams along at a great pace and had plenty of twists and unexpected surprises to keep me guessing at the outcome.

To go back to the triangle I'm pretty sure I've decided - Team Death! Although we still don't know as much about Death as I'd like we do know more than enough to pique my interest. He may be a mystery man but I feel like he is being as honest as he can be with Alex and I can't say the same for Falin. When Death keeps quiet about something I feel like he has a good reason to but with Falin it comes across like he has something to hide. I like Falin but at the moment I don't trust him to have Alex's best interests at heart. I may be proved wrong in the future but either way I'm looking forward to seeing more of all 3 characters.

Grave Dance is another great instalment to what is shaping up to be a fabulous new urban fantasy series and it's one I'm looking forward to continuing. If you're looking for a story full of magic and mayhem with a strong heroine who can kick ass but who has to pay a price for using her powers then this will be right up your street and it's a series that I'm very happy to recommend.

Source: Received from Berkley UK in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
Between Dreams and Reality
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