Customer Reviews

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)

5 star:		(149)
4 star:		(79)
3 star:		(35)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This was such a bizarre entry in what has become one of my favorite mystery series. First of all, starting this book will be totally confusing for anyone who hasn't read "One Word Answer," a short Sookie Stackhouse story that Harris wrote for an anthology. How do I know? Because I hadn't read it by the time I began "Definitely Dead," and I was definitely confused. Sookie's cousin was murdered in New Orleans, and the Vampire Queen of Louisiana sent an emissary to visit Sookie in Bon Temps? When? Not in any of the previous books I'd read. I knew I couldn't be crazy, so I did some online research, found the short story, and was able to download it for free. Then the beginning of the book made sense to me. But how unfair is that to readers who either don't know about the story or have access to the internet? At least publish the short story in the paperback edition of "Definitely Dead" so that readers aren't completely lost. Or include a note at the beginning of the book that directs readers to the anthology. Something, anything.

Second of all, the story involving Sookie's dead vampire cousin, the core of the book, doesn't really get rolling again until around page 130. Before then, the book is strictly filler, with unimportant subplots, one involving Jason and his werepanther girlfriend, the other about a missing child, who Sookie helps find. Those aren't spoilers, folks, because these side stories have NOTHING to do with the book's actual plot. So why are they even there? Who knows? Maybe Harris is setting things up for future entries, but that doesn't make for an involving reading experience this time around.

Thirdly, I wish Sookie would settle on a boyfriend. Bill, Eric, Sam, Quinn...On the one hand, I've always enjoyed Harris's ability to keep readers on their toes and defy expectations, but Sookie is starting to look like a right little pop tart. And was it really necessary for Harris to give us a plot twist that makes us detest and reevaluate a favorite character? Again, Harris likes to pull the rug out from under Sookie (and us, vicariously), but it seemed excessive and very mean-spirited. Harris hasn't seemed to know what to do with this character for a few books now, and it shows. Fourthly, when Sookie does make it to New Orleans and the book's real story actually begins, it turns out to be an uninteresting, overcomplicated one, with a plot element that was corny when Dumas used it in "The Three Musketeers."

Lastly, Harris throws us all a curve and gives us a hint about Sookie's family background that's completely inconsistent with the rest of the series, and made for a lot of backtracking. What, is Harris making this stuff up as she goes along? Sure sounds like it. Every writer should take a page out of JK Rowling's playbook and plan a series in advance. It goes a LONG way towards avoiding this kind of sloppy plotting. And if Sookie is a -- well, I don't want to give it away -- then it means she's not a normal woman in abnormal circumstances. Which means she's not us, the reader, and that's a shame.

And did it bother anyone else that Quinn took Sookie to see "The Producers?" Why couldn't Harris just say "the theater?" There have never been other references to present day movies or TV shows -- not that I remember -- and I found it very bizarre. Maybe I just don't see Sookie liking or getting that particular show. "Rent," yes -- "The Producers," no. Maybe it's just me.

All in all, if you're following Sookie's story, you're going to want to read this one as well, but prepare to put the book down, as I did, every few days. It's that dull.

I love the Southern Vampire series so much. I have enjoyed every last book - to the hilt - and this one was no exception. What I love is how the books are heartwarming, heartbreaking, poignant, funny, suspenseful, romantic...all at once. The characters are amazingly well drawn and Sookie's evolution from book to book as she gains confidence, experience, and some hard knocks is so fascinating. That alone makes this installment worthwhile.

Sookie is definitely a bit snappish throughout the book, but she's also more confident, more sure of herself - more willing to take initiative. She's tired of being manipulated and she's trying, as hard as she can, to get control of her life. It's no surprise that she's on the bristly side.

Sookie visits New Orleans and learns more about how vampire society works - she meets the Queen, who wants to employ her directly. So the power relationship is obviously shifting a bit between Sookie and the Bon Temps supes. I think this is a Very Promising Development.

The romantic interest here is Quinn, a were-tiger who oozes machismo. I found him a little bit campy. Eric and Bill appear - not often, but enough. There are some *major* revelations in that department, which pleased me inordinately (And, not to give away too much, but I have loathed Bill since Dead Until Dark).

There's also more afoot on other fronts - the continuing drama of Debbie Pelt & the Fellowship of the Sun & Claudine's mysterious presence.

I always feel totally drenched in the physical environment of the Southern Vampire books - Harris writes about the south in such a vivid way it can make a die-hard California girl like myself want to visit Louisiana just to see the pollen or drive down a narrow country lane. New Orleans, however, gets a more-or-less minimal treatment: Sookie doesn't get much of a chance to explore.

Alas. A year until the next one comes out.

i found this book sorely disappointing. The first four books were great, and then after that...the series seems to be going downhill. in this novel, there's too many things going on at once, too many characters running around. Especially new ones. Harris' established characters aren't involved in the storyline in any meaningful way, they just pop up here and there. She might as well not have written them in at all. I miss those characters, especially Eric and Bill. Those vamps were the reason i got into the series in the first place. With this book i found myself wholly uninterested in the plethora of new characters and was in anticipation of even a small cameo appearance of the established ones. I couldn't get into the story either...it just draaaaaged. And there were too many subplots. Plus, the ending was kinda disappointing too.

Sookie Stackhouse hasn't exactly been in relationship heaven lately. Her romance will Bill the Vampire is over. And Eric, the local head Vampire can' t get it through his head that a short fling is not love forever. And Alcide Hervaux, once the werewolf of her dreams was now dating someone else. So when Quinn the weretiger showed up and talked her into a date Sookie was glad of the opportunity. But Quinn and Sookie's date is interrupted by a surprise attack by rogue werewolves, and that just begins the trouble that's coming.

A psychotic family seeks the fate of their missing daughter. A new girl shows up at Sam Merlotte's bar. And a minister lectures Sookie on the sins of dating vampires. But Sookie is a telepath, and dating humans is hopeless. Vampires cannot be read, and weres are murky at best. For Sookie, supers are her best mates, regardless of what normal folk think. And one has to admit that dating the dead can be a lot more exciting than popcorn and a drive-in flick.

Perhaps, too exciting. Sookie's cousin Hadley meets a sudden ending and Sookie must go to New Orleans to take care of her estate. Hadley, was a vampire, a consort to the vampire queen of Louisiana, and the Queen commands Sookies presence and help in recovering a diamond bracelet before it's disappearance triggers a vampire war. Sookie sets to work with more than her share of deadly moments.

This is my one and only vampire 'romance' series. I don't like gush and throb stories, nor hours of kinky sex with occasional bits of plot. Charlaine Harris has managed to skirt the thin line by making Sookie a tough but endearing character who cares for her friends, likes a good looking man (or wolf or tiger) but doesn't tolerate guff from her opponents. And Harris understands that the sexy bits are only OK if there is a story worth reading underneath it all. If your looking for a wry southern vampire series with a solid cast start reading about Sookie Stackhouse.

I look forward to reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries every year (well, every year since I discovered them). The first four books were the best of the series. (Dead as a Doornail was great too though.) I had looked forward to reading Definitely Dead and read more on sexy weretiger Quinn. Even though I had a hard time conjuring a gorgeous baldheaded, olive-skinned man, I do like Quinn a bit, though I need to know more about him. However, I wasn't thrilled with this installment and its "twists." But more on that stuff later. Hadley, Sookie Stackhouse's cousin, had been a vampire. She was murdered and is now definitely dead (as opposed to being vampire-dead). Hadley's apartment and her possessions now belong to Sookie, and she has been summoned by the Vampire Queen of Louisiana to claim them. Sookie is disturbed with the fact that her cousin had been a vampire. She had taken part in the execution of her cousin's murderer (this took place in the short story "One Word Answer" in the Bite anthology) and she isn't thrilled with the prospect of seeing the apartment and visiting the vampire queen. But someone is doing just about anything, including committing murder, to keep Sookie from claiming her inheritance. Did Hadley have some skeletons in her closet? Who is stopping Sookie from going to New Orleans and why? On top of everything else, the Pelts are again questioning Sookie about their daughter Debbie's disappearance, Eric is insisting upon taking her to a vampire council meeting and some Weres may want her dead. All poor Sookie wants to do is enjoy a few dates with the gorgeous Quinn. There are several twists throughout the novel.

I have to say that the first one-hundred or so pages are quite boring. There is some building of what is to come ahead, but most of it is too short and sparse to spark my interest. The scenes at bar Merlotte are always fun and Harris's descriptions of the south and of Sookie relaxing on a warm sunny day are great too, and I enjoy the witty dialogue as well, but the other stuff centered on internal monologue and on Sookie getting reacquainted with practically every character in the series was a big bore for me. In the first one-hundred or so pages, we get appearances or mentions of Bill, Alcide, Sam, Eric, Jason, Claude, Claudine, Maria-Star, Quinn, Calvin, the Pelts, Merlotte's regulars and several very small, filler characters, some of which I couldn't remember at first. Out of all those characters, I was only interested in Bill, Eric and Quinn. It seems that Ms. Harris felt the need to bring up these characters even if most of them were not relevant to the plot. It matters little to me if some of them are in one of the novels or not. Perhaps a brief mention of them would suffice. After we got out of that hallway, which included a mini-mystery centered on a missing school boy, the story got interesting and the action began. I was enjoying the story a great deal... until I read the part about the "twist" with Bill. I had a feeling that it was a contrived plot device to write him off the series or to make him unlikeable to us readers. I hate it when authors do that! Laurell K. Hamilton did it with Richard and now Charlaine Harris has done it with Bill. But I sincerely hope that isn't the case, for Bill is my favorite character in this series and I'd hate to see him go. He has done some vile things to Sookie that don't make him good boyfriend material, but what I like about him and Eric is that they're flawed and complex and not vanilla vampires. The point of vampires is that they don't behave or think like regular people. Also, I'd like to read about his side of things. Ever since Club Dead, it has been all about Sookie and her broken heart, with very little opportunity to have Bill defend himself. I hope this new twist is just new conflict between him and Sookie and nothing else. It is obvious to me that Ms. Harris has put Bill and the other men "in the back burner" in favor of Quinn. As for Quinn, I have no idea what to make of him yet. He is likeable, but kind of one-dimensional thus far. He is definitely not as interesting or as colorful as Eric and Bill. I hope Ms. Harris won't do with Quinn what LKH has done with Anita Blake's Micah and have Quinn become Sookie's "soulmate." *shudder* Anyway, Definitely Dead has its fun and entertaining moments, but the problems above kept me from enjoying this one the way I had enjoyed the previous installments. This was nevertheless entertaining and I'm sure that many Sookie fans will enjoy it. I hope against hope that Charlaine Harris won't take the direction I suspect she will take though.

Sookie Stackhouse is a telepathic waitress in the South. In this latest installment Sookie has to clear out her recently departed cousin's apartment. But this is rather strange since Sookie's cousin was already dead - she was a vampire. Again Sookie is thrown into vampire politics. Her cousin was the lover of some vampire queen who is going to marry a vampire king and this may have something do with her cousins death.

While the main focus is on this investigation Eric and Bill show up and Sookie develops maybe a new love interest...we will see. Also the investigation involving Debbie turns up again.

Fans of Sookie will enjoy this latest book and people new to Sookie will find it easy to catch up.

I've liked about everything I've read from Ms. Harris, but the Sookie Stackhouse (or Southern Vampire) series is my favorite. All of these Sookie storys have featured a very likable lead whose supernatural talents have made her valuable to the vampire population.

In this latest, which certainly isn't my favorite, Sookie has to take care of her late cousins personal effects. It would have been interesting if she could have met Hadley before the murder. I think it would have made a good story. The Queen of Louisana was surprisingly likable. I'll be glad to see her again.

Ok -- now regardless of the climate of the storys we might still agree Louisiana and surrounding states are still part of America and therefore should be bound to the same laws. When Sookie asked the Queen did she still HAVE to go to a big summit, the Queen tells her yes she does. Why not go home, inform the police she is being menaced by certain vampires and tell 'em all to get stuffed? The vamps in this series are trying very hard to be "mainstream" (whatever in heck that means) and stay in good with the human population/lawmakers/legal system/etc. Tell Eric she doesn't owe him a #@$!! thing and to stay out of her life, along with his henchmen.

I can understand Sookie falling in love with Vamp Bill and I can understand why he showed up in the first place. He could have been a bit more honest, but he isn't human and he doesn't pretend to be. So they have sex. And she has sex with Eric. Now she is dating Quinn. Can we see a trend beginning to develope here?

Along with many, many others I have this horrible idea that Sookie is in danger of going the way of that former kick-a** Anita Blake (now turned whiney valley girl nympho [...]). Please Ms. Harris -- don't go there. I like Sookie now as much as I USED to like Anita Blake. Keep her the good girl she is, doing the best she can with what life has given her. I don't care what you do with Bill or Eric. I like both characters, but I can live without 'em. I kind of like Pam, too, and would appreciate it if you didn't kill her off.

But please. Keep Sookie just the way she is. Stay away from the dark road Ms. Hamilton insists on traveling.


Not as good as the previous, but good enough to buy or borrow.

The good news is that at almost 100 pages more than her usual, this is the longest installment of Harris' series yet. The bad news is that the first 100 pages could likely be whittled down to about 3 paragraphs of exposition.
The story doesn't really get started until Sookie starts going to the dogs (the weres) with a new love interest, and gets tangled in pack politics as she once was with the vamps. The old Sookie is back, giving better than she gets, and there's some interesting new characters; but in some ways, this series seems a bit adrift to me. Everybody in the supe world wants a piece of Sookie, but so much of it (at least in the beginning) seems pointless filler that meanders among every possible group: weres, shifters, vamps and now a new little group I won't mention. I find myself wishing that Sookie would have a convention in her front yard, tell off the ones she wants quit of, get on with her life and focus on a good tight story here.

That said, Sookie is one of the most likeable heroines in supernatural (or romance) fiction; she has courage and an honesty and charm that is undeniably attractive, and it looks now as if there is a movie in the works about this series, which I look forward to. The earlier books (1,2 and 3) were great, and together they make a fine series. It's getting a little annoying that Harris likes to put her through her paces having to face this, that and the other ex-boyfriend, fix her brother's interminable problems and dance around possible suitors, rejected suitors, and current ones. The girl (and the reader) is a bit overburdened here, although I think it's ultimately worth the ride.

*Spoilers Ahead*

Early Synopsis: A revisionist take on the Sookie universe.

Bill - You poor, miserable *expletive.* What happened? First, you suddenly became an adulterer. Now, you're suddenly a seducer? Time to throw yourself on the stake, buddy. Next, you'll be a rapist - oh wait, right, that happened at the same time you suddenly became an adulterer. Oy.

Sookie -- Still love her, but there are problems. For one, I don't care if Debbie was Satan incarnate, don't cop an attitude with her grieving (and rightly p.o.'d) family - even if they are ruthless kidnappers. And fairy blood? FAIRY? When? How? Why? And how did this somewhat pertinent fact escape all of Sookie's supernatural boyfriends? I understand that Andre had a special fairy detector for a nose, but Eric and Bill fed on her. Why did we have to wait to book 7(?) to find out all of this? It could be an interesting plot twist - or it could be another ardeur. Fairy blood doesn't really solve the problem of Sookie's suitors. It justifies giving her more of them. And to me, that's a problem.

Eric - Let's see him in something more than a cameo.

Quinn - Stop saying "babe," OK, dude? I liked Quinn in the last book, I liked him still in this book, but he is coming across a bit as a Poochie (Simpsons ref).

Shifters in general - I'm a bit biased b/c Anita Blake has probably ruined shifter romances for me forever. But look at the list here: Sam, Alcide, Calvin, now Quinn. Unless we're talking were-gerbils next, I don't care. It is time to call the Dr. Ludwig-equivalent of veterinary science, and end all of this by neutering the lot of them. /bitterness.

Plot Resolution - Sookie does her best Velma impersonation and explains all the stuff that didn't make any sense. So the diamond was in the coffee? A few quick calls to the gas stations solved the mystery? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out how the heck 2+2=5 here. I understand what happened, but it's hard to believe.

End: A better book than "Club Dead" with an interesting (if completely out of left field) twist on Bill's character, and a good set-up for future conflict. Scooby-Doo-like mysteries and flat villains weaken the mystery plot, and Sookie-Nookie becomes increasingly problematic as new characters sweep in and steal the limelight from older, better characters. 3/5

This is the 6th book of Sookie. This book Sookie's dead cousin is introduced. BUT.....there was a side story in another book "Bite" before this one that told the story about Hadley's death. When I started reading the book I was confused. THAT MADE ME MAD!!!!!!!!!!! There should have been a side note letting us know what happened. How are we supposed to know she did a side story. It truly made me not like the book because I was confused and thought I started the wrong book.