Murder by Death

I knew (sort of) how this one ended and had put off starting it until the release of the ninth book was closer, but actually it's not quite as cliff-hanging an ending as I was expecting. 

I love this series; I love the humour, the snark, and the inclusion of a lot of old Christian mythology.  I like the way the author conveys the horror of bad things happening without making the reader wallow in it.

Eighth Grave After Dark is both the culmination and the deepening of the overall story arc.  We have the ultimate family reunion in addition to the cold and hot cases Charley is trying to solve.  Reyes becomes a bit more human too, if you'll excuse the expression.  The author's depiction of hell brought to mind scenes from Constantine and were incredibly effective.

The ending is ... ok.  It's a neat and tidy way of getting around what might have proven problematic in future plots, but it works for me.  I'm very much looking forward to the ninth book.