Book Review: 1 Treasure Box
A Sooke Stackhouse Novel (The Southern Vampire Mysteries), Book 10
Publisher: Ace Books; 1 edition (May 4, 2010), Hardcover: 311 pages, ISBN-10: 0441018645, ISBN-13: 978-0441018642

Eric and Sookie are now married and Eric’s sire is in town.  Sookie has to deal with her vampire father-in law and her crazy, vampire brother-in-law. At the same time she is recovering from the ordeal she went through in Dead and Gone.

Dead in the Family is the tenth book in The Southern Vampire Mysteries series (also known as A Sooke Stackhouse Novel), and currently there are a total of twelve books. The thirteenth and final book is going to be released May 2013. All the books are contemporary fantasy but are also known as urban fantasy. They also fall into the romance genre. The story is told in the first person narrative with Sooke’s voice and thoughts as we follow her around.

Not too much happens in the beginning of this book because Sookie is recuperating from being captured and tortured.  Eric’s sire is in town making life difficult for the couple.  There are a few problems which crop up surrounding the werewolves and there are still some lingering faerie problems. This book continues to examine prejudice showing the damage it can cause. The end of the book was exciting and had plenty of action.

Previously, I had found this series to be one of the better in this genre, but now I am questioning if that is still true.  While reading Dead in the Family, I found some of the writing to be trite and rushed with a story that was not very well formulated. I also thought the book lacked its usual exciting pace. However, I still enjoyed reading Sookie’s thoughts and I still really like all of the characters.

This is a standalone book that continues immediately after the events in book nine, and since there are going to be three more books in the series, I know that there is more to tell in Sookie’s story.  I have read all the previous books in the series and I have enjoyed them all, but I found Dead in the Family to be underwhelming.  I thought the book was OK, and I am planning to give the next book in the series a read.  I am hoping it will pick up some speed.

 Favourite Quote:

 “I love spring for all the obvious reasons. I love the flowers blooming (which happens early here in Louisiana); I love the birds twittering; I love the squirrels scampering across my yard. I love the sound of werewolves howling in the distance. No, just kidding. But the late, lamented Tray Dawson had once told me that spring is the favorite season of werewolves.” Page 37

To Purchase: “Dead in the Family” from Amazon, click here or on picture above