Charlaine Harris – All Together Dead

142. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris (2007)
Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 7

Read my review of book:
1. Dead Until Dark 2. Living Dead in Dallas 3. Club Dead	4. Dead to the World 5. Dead as a Doornail 6. Definitely Dead
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Length: 323 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

Started: 25 November 2009
Finished: 26 November 2009

Where did it come from? Amazon
Why do I have it? Bought the box set.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 September 2009
Verdict? Keeper.

Most conferences are
more fun after dark, but not
if you work for vamps.

Summary: The time for the vampire summit of all of the Kings and Queens of the southern and midwestern states has arrived, and telepathic waitress will be attending as an aide to the vampire Queen of Louisiana. However, it’s not just going to be a business meeting – the Queen is on trial for the murder of her husband, the King of Arkansas, and her position has been vastly weakened by the damage from Hurricane Katrina. Sookie knows that being one of the only humans amidst a sea of power-hungry vampire politics isn’t going to be easy, or safe, but she didn’t count on quite how dangerous it was really going to be.

Review: I know I’ve complained that past books in this series have had too much of Sookie and her tangled personal life, and not enough else happening. However, I think this book tipped a little too far in the other direction: too much mystery, not enough romance. Or, more to the point, too much vampire politics, not enough Quinn. (Although before I read this book I was talking to a friend about how no matter what Quinn’s supposed to be wearing, I always picture him as a genie – it’s the shaved head and olive skin – and then in this book he goes and shows up in an actual genie outfit. I couldn’t breathe from laughing so hard.) The plot is certainly interesting, and I appreciate that Harris keeps trying to widen Sookie’s world and build in new details. However, I just don’t find the Queen a particularly compelling character, and the parts I enjoyed most were the scenes that had the least to do with the plot proper. Added to that was certainly the fact that the “mystery” was not particularly mysterious, to the point where I was almost yelling at Sookie for being so incredibly blind. Still, it was a very fast and enjoyable read, which is really all I ask for from this series. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not the best this series has been, but still totally worth reading, plus there are some interesting developments that make me very excited for the next book.

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First Line: The Shreveport vampire bar would be opening late tonight.

Cover Thoughts: Hee. Almost directly out of the book, which is kind of awesome. Plus no Vampire Bill!

Vocab: (see the whole list)

• p. 91: “When someone has had approximately a thousand years to practice kissing, he can become very good at it, and I would be lying if I said I was immune to such osculatory talent.” – related to kissing.
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• p. 173: “Kentucky turned out to look a lot like Davy Crockett. All he needed was a ba’ar and a coonskin cap.” – bear. Duh.