Grave Talker

Meet Darby. Coffee addict. Homicide detective. Oh, and she can see ghosts, too. There are only three rules in Darby Adler's life. One: Don't talk to the dead in front of the living. Two: Stay off the Arcane Bureau of Investigation's radar. Three: Don't forget rules one and two.

Seeing dead people and solving their murders is Darby Adler's bread and butter. What's not on the menu? A nosy Fed poking around her crime scenes, who seems to know a hell of a lot more than he's saying - especially about the ghosts surrounding Darby and the murderer who's desperate for her attention.

There are few things worse than being on the Arcane Bureau of Investigation's naughty list. To keep herself out of hot water, Darby Adler has made a deal with the devil - using her skills as a grave talker to help the ABI solve some very cold cases. But there is something mighty amiss in this task, especially when quite a few of these cases lead Darby right back to her home town of Haunted Peak and the secrets buried there.

If it's not her death-dealing father, her back-from-the-dead mother, or her ghost grandfather, it's her long-lost siblings and their bid for power. With the ABI radio silent and her siblings to find, Darby's got a major problem on her hands - especially when the local coven figures out that her father is no longer bound.

After inadvertently taking the mantle of Warden of Knoxville, Darby has painted a huge target on her back. With bridges burned and the ABI on her tail, she’ll have to decide between staying a small-town detective or leaning into her new role. It’s not only her job on the line - it’s her life.

Some secrets should stay buried. After accidentally freeing a demon, ticking off the werewolf alpha, and possibly inciting a war, Darby Adler’s Warden job is in serious peril. With the council up in arms and a literal god on her doorstep, Darby needs to figure her life out, and pronto. If she can’t, losing her job might be the least of her problems.

There are two things Darby Adler wants more than anything: to take a vacation, and to find who is responsible for the rash of witch abductions in Knoxville. With an ancient vampire in town and a slew of fugitives on the loose, her suspect pool is vast. But Darby has a sneaking suspicion she knows the culprit all too well. And if she can’t catch him on her own, she might just have to resort to more creative measures to get the job done. Here’s hoping she doesn’t lose her soul in the process.

Dead & Buried is the seventh book in the Grave Talker Series. If you enjoy foul-mouthed heroines, dark humor, and enemies-to-lovers, then this is the series for you.