Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10)

by Charlaine Harris

If you think your family relationships are complicated, think again: you haven't seen anything like the ones in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie Stackhouse is dealing with a whole host of family problems, ranging from her own kin (a non-human fairy and a telepathic second cousin) demanding a place in her life, to her lover Eric's vampire sire, an ancient being, who arrives with Eric's 'brother' in tow at a most inopportune moment. And Sookie's tracking down a distant relation of her ailing neighbour (and ex), Vampire Bill Compton. In addition to the multitude of family issues complicating her life, the werewolf pack of Shreveport has asked Sookie for a special favour, and since Sookie is an obliging young woman, she agrees. But this favour for the wolves has dire results for Sookie, who is still recovering from the trauma of her abduction during the Fairy War.

Reviewed by celinenyx on

4 of 5 stars

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I can see why other people were disappointed with Dead in the Family, but for me it was a solid addition to the Sookie books.

I think the main problem for most people was their anticipations. If you've waited for this book for a year, it better be a great and action-packed book - which it is not. However, looking back, I don't think the Sookie books were never that action packed. They never seem to have such clear a plot or mystery. Mostly it's just Sookie being Sookie, mingling with Bon Temps locals while doing some supernatural smooching and killing on the side.

After the happenings in Dead and Gone, Sookie is having a very hard time. She is traumatised, and the first few chapters of Dead in the Family are focussed on that. She needs some time with her family to regain herself, and I though this was quite well executed. This also means that she's not off doing vampire business all the time - but to be honest that's not why I read the books anyway. I just really like the simplistic style of the prose, the straight-forward storyline and clear-cut characters. They make for such easy reading when life is stressful, and Dead in the Family delivered the hard-needed distraction.

I also didn't mind seeing Sookie and Eric in what people call "an old married couple" relationship. Plenty of relationships in books only deal with the first attraction phase of falling in love. Couples actually staying together, working things out after the first rush of attraction has faded are severely under-represented in fiction, and I was quite interested in seeing how Sookie and Eric would work out long-term.

All in all, Dead in the Family might not be the strongest book in the series (at least, that is the consensus amongst fans), I wasn't disappointed in getting my light paranormal fix.

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  • Started reading
  • 4 September, 2013: Finished reading
  • 4 September, 2013: Reviewed