USA Today bestselling author Kalayna Price is the author of the popular Alex Craft urban fantasy series, and her shorter, Haven urban fantasy series. The Alex Craft novels are about a private investigator and police consultant who can raise the shades of the dead to help find answers to burning questions like who killed them. But, as it turns out, she is so much more than that. Here are the Kalayna Price books in order for her two urban series, with new books added as we are aware of their upcoming publications.
New Alex Craft Books
Grave War, (Alex Craft #7), 2020
Alex Craft Series
- Grave Witch (Alex Craft #1), 2010
- Grave Dance (Alex Craft #2), 2011
- Kicking It (Alex Craft #2.5), 2013 (anthology of short stories)
- Grave Memory (Alex Craft #3), 2012
- Grave Visions (Alex Craft #4), 2016
- Grave Ransom (Alex Craft #5), 2017
- Grave Destiny (Alex Craft #6), 2019
- Grave War (Alex Craft #7), 2020
Haven Series
- Once Bitten (Haven #1), 2009
- Twice Dead (Haven #2), 2010
- Third Blood (Haven #3), TBA
Alex Craft Books Synopsis
Grave Witch
In the first of the Alex Craft novels we are introduced to Alex Craft, a PI and grave witch who can speak to the dead by raising their shades and asking them questions. She helps the police with their investigations, and no, in this timeline, it is a very normal thing to do in the Nekros City. Magic is real, recognized, and witches and other otherworldly creatures exist along mundane humans. Oh, and Alex also speaks with Death who seemingly has a crush on her. In the case Alex working in this book, while raising the shade of a murdered person, Alex is attacked by the shade. This normally should not happen as shades are only fragments of memories without any salient life of their own. Since the case is so strange, she teams up with Falin Andrews, a detective who, like her, is so much more than a cop.
Grave Dance
In the second of the Alex Craft novels, after the shocking events from Grave Witch when she defeats the evil sorcerer and tries to forget about Falin, Alex is recuperating by taking on very mundane, regular work. But when several left feet are found in a pile, Alex is asked by the police to come and help. Maybe she could raise enough shade from those feet to tell a story? But what Alex doesn’t count for is that her seeking also stirred the pot in the fairy world, where specific fairies now want a word with her. But when she learns some interesting things about herself, her inheritance, and especially when she meets Falin Andrews once again in dire circumstances, she knows she’s a bit in over her head.
Grave Memory
Alex is still way in over her head in her personal life triangle, but then she gets a new case to investigate involving an apparent suicide in Nekros City. When the shade announces that he has no idea how he died, it becomes clear that this is a murder, not a suicide. This book has much more detective work than the previous Alexis Craft novels, so readers of pure urban fantasy might be a bit more disappointed. Eventually, both Death and Falin appear, with Death getting quite a lot of prime time, and what an interesting triangle this becomes.
Grave Visions
Alex is back, this time investigating the distribution of a new drug that affects both human and fae with dire consequences. As an independent fae, she can investigate where others can’t, but she is more and more drawn into the battle between the various fae factions. Since she is so skilled, every fae court wants her for their own benefit, but, as usual, Alex can’t choose for the life of her. In her personal life, although she now has her boyfriend, when her ex (Falin) appears in her life again to keep an eye on her on orders from his boss (and lover), things get complicated once again.
Grave Ransom
This time around, Alex must work with Briar Darque of the Magical Crimes Investigation Bureau on a strange case, where souls inhabit dead bodies that don’t belong to them. And they are sort of alive. During this case, Alex has to deal with Death, her own love interest, and things are not always as sunny as we’d want them to be. And then there’s Falin, once again. Although, in this book, the abduction case takes prominent place and the love interests are only sidelines. Although, at least one of their stories seems to head … somewhere. We’ll see in the next book.
Grave Destiny
When Alex is approached by a fae prince to investigate the case of a political murder, little does she know that she is thrown smack in the middle of the whole fey court intrigue, along with a war that might touch the human side as well. And when her sidekick ends up being Falin himself, she might be in mortal danger, but so might be Falin as well. This story takes place mostly in the fae world, and, personally, I miss the early books where Alex was raising shades to find their secrets and solve their murders. It is still interesting, especially if you like urban fantasy with the fae, but for me, it is starting to lose the appeal.
Haven Books Synopsis
Once Bitten
While the Alex Craft series is about a grave witch and fae, Haven features shapeshifters and vampires. Haven is their city where all the action happens. Kita Nekai is a shapeshifter who accidentally gets turned into a vampire by Nathaniel and then goes on to create a rogue shifter who kills people. Now she has 72 hours to find that rogue killer or she will be executed.
Twice Dead
Since Kita has become a vampire, she has no longer shifted into a cat, which poses a problem. She now has to come to terms with her new existence, diet, and her attraction to her own sire, Nathaniel, who by saving her life after an attack, he actually turned her into a vampire.
Third Blood
Kita must return home to daddy, and in the process, she must take Nathaniel with her. Not only is he a vampire, and her dad a shapeshifter, but now Kita can’t shift anymore, and that will be a very strange thing to admit to the family. When she gets home, however, someone tries to kill her, so her job of finding the rogue she created, standing trial for it, and helping her father defend his territory from some evil shapeshifters is becoming more and more difficult. The book is not out yet, and there is no mention as to when it will be available.
Kalayna Price Biography
USA Today bestselling author Kalayna Price was born in 1982. She loved reading fantasy novels as a child, and at the age of ten, she has read everything in the genre in her father’s library, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Kalayna Price attended the University of South Carolina, and she trained in classical painting with an emphasis on the figure, although she admits she no longer paints as much as she used to. She is now a full-time novelist of two urban fantasy series: Alex Craft and Haven.
In her research for her books, the author Kalayna Price heavily uses books on ancient mythologies and folklore along with some books on police procedure and forensics to get the details right. After all, Alex Craft is not only a fae and grave witch but also a private investigator. The Kalaya Price urban fantasy books have been translated into numerous languages in various countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, New Zealand, Poland, and Russia.
The Kalayna Price Alex Craft novels have been reviewed as being “fantasy, but also a dash of romance, a bit of gritty horror, some humor, and a large serving of mystery.”
Praise for Kalayna Price Books
Fascinating magic, a delicious heartthrob, and a fresh, inventive world. (Chloe Neill)
An incredible urban fantasy…This is a series I love. (Nocturne Romance Reads)
A dense and vibrant tour de force (All Things Urban Fantasy)
Yum. A rare treat, intriguing and original. Don’t miss this one (Patricia Briggs on Grave Memory)
An action packed roller-coaster ride…An absolute must-read! (A Book Obsession)
References
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