Sookie Stackhouse leads an interesting life, what with having a shape-shifter for a boss at the bar where she works as a cocktail waitress, a brother who was bitten and is now a werepanther, dating Quinn, a weretiger and her own unusual abilities to read minds. She also has few living relatives so the loss of her cousin Hadley is keenly felt even though they were not very close. Of course, part of that distance could have been due to Hadley being a vampire and a favorite companion/lover to Sophie-Anne, vampire queen of New Orleans.
While out on a date in Shreveport, Sookie and Quinn find themselves facing an attack by some newly bitten werewolves despite Sookie being named a friend of the pack. When the Shreveport pack is confronted with information about the attack, it’s clear no pack members knew anything about it yet this was no random act of violence. When an emissary of the vampire queen appears on Sookie’s doorstep wondering why she isn’t packed and ready to go down to New Orleans to clear up Hadley’s affairs, the queen’s messenger is discovered dead behind Sookie’s house, the summons undelivered.
Someone or something obviously doesn’t want Sookie digging into Hadley’s business and they are willing to kill in order to achieve their goal. But who and for what purpose? Sookie has no shortage of potential suspects from a laundry list of disgruntled vampires, radical members of a religious cult to werewolves unhappy with her involvement in pack affairs. There is more then one mystery to be solved if Sookie is to come through this latest adventure in one piece and the assailants are drawng closer by the second.
Harris ties together murder mystery, horror and fantasy genres with a beguiling blend of wit and humor that make for a rapid paced romp in this sixth installment of the “Stackhouse” series. Although this builds upon events and characters of the earlier books, readers new to Harris’s work need not start with her first story to appreciate this nicely crafted tale. Quinn’s reappearance and subsequent fleshing out adds a nice extra layer of depth to the ongoing story, it will be interesting to see what becomes of his relationship with Sookie and whether the bargain she struck with the Pelts will hold. This will leave readers wondering how long they have to wait before the next Stackhouse adventure.
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