Book Review: Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #6) by Charlaine Harris

Summary:
As a person with so few living relatives, Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse really hated to lose one.  but she never guessed that it would be her cousin Hadley---a consort of the vampire queen of New Orleans.  After all, technically speaking, Hadley was already dead.  And now, as unexpected heir to Hadley's estate, Sookie discovers the inheritance definitely comes with a risk. 

Someone doesn't want Sookie lookign too deeply into Hadley's past---or for that matter, Hadley's possessions.  And they're prepared to do anythign in their power to stop her.  But who?  The range of suspects runs from teh rogue weres who reject Sookie as a friend of the pack to teh vampire queen herself, who could be working through a particularly vulnerable subject---Sookie's first love, Bill. 

Whoever it is, they're definitely dangerous---and Sookie's life is definitely on the line...

Review:
Definitely Dead picks the pace back up from the somewhat draggy Dead as a Doornail.  A little bit of time has elapsed between the books five and six, and the events surrounding Sookie learning of Hadley's death are covered in Harris' book of short stories, A Touch of Dead.  However, Sookie paraphrases those events enough so that you don't need to read the short stories to understand what's going on here. 

Definitely Dead introduces demons into the supernatural world.  We also get to spend most of the book in New Orleans, which is a nice change of pace from Sookie's daily life in Bon Temps.  I was also glad for Sookie to get away from Sam, since I'm not a fan of their ongoing flirtation.  Sookie's relationship with Quinn starts to pick up here, and the issues surrounding Debbie Pelt's death are finally resolved. 

There are some fun interludes with Eric, whom I have always liked, and reading about the vampire queen and her retinue was fun.  I'm looking foward to finishing the series for the second time before reading Dead in the Family.  I don't usually reread books, except for my all-time favorites, but I'm enjoying the Sookie books more the second time around.

Just One Gripe:
All of the previous Sookie novels have the title as part of the diaglogue just once.  I like to amuse myself with wondering when in the story someone will use the title in a sentence.  This book had the phrase "definitely dead" three times, which felt pretty in-your-face repititive.

The Best Thing About This Book:
We finally learn the truth about Bill's betrayal.  Poor Sookie!  I like her response to Bill. 

Appropriate for a younger audience:
No, although this book has the least sex of any of the Sookie books, there is quite a bit of gore.

Score:
Characters:  5/5
Plot:  5/5
Setting/Imagery:  4/5
Originality:  5/5
Ending:  4/5
Total Score:  23/25





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