ARC Review: Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris

Title: Dead In The Family
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire #10
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: USA/ May 9th 2010; UK/ May 27th 2010
Blurb:
Sookie Stackhouse has finally settled into a relationship with the Viking vampire Eric, and her errant brother Jason seems to have his life in order, too. But all the other people in Sookie’s life – Eric himself, her former lover Bill, her friend and boss Sam – are having family problems. Eric’s maker shows up with Eric’s ‘brother’ in tow, the ailing Bill can only be healed by a blood sibling, and Sam’s brother’s marriage is about to take place... or will it? The furor raised by the coming out of the two-natured has yet to settle; some people are just not ready to sit down to dinner with a man who turns into a dog. And Sookie herself is still recovering from her last ordeal. She’s definitely improving, physically and mentally, but she’s always going to have some dark moments now. The werewolves tell her that there have been strange and ominous passers-by in the Stackhouse woods; now Sookie is about to come face-to-face with one of her more distant relatives...

At the beginning of the 10th Sookie Stackhouse novel, we have Sookie dealing with the events of the battle with the faeries from the last book. Amelia decides to go back to New Orleans after the death of Tray Dawson, her werewolf boyfriend; Claude, Claudine's brother, pays a visit to know how did her sister died and Bill ins't healing properly after all the damage he sustained in the war.

One day, Alcide calls Sookie to ask her if the pack could use her woods on the full moon because some people were camping in his, and she lets them use it. At the end of their run, they tell her that some faeries have been on her property and that there's also a fresh body buried in a clearing.

There is some tension between Eric and Victor, the vampire the King of Nevada sent to take care of the state of Luisiana. We discover why Eric wasn't in the battle against the fairies and some incidents happen with Victor's people.
Claude asks Sookie if he could move in with her because he feels lonely, and she accepts. Also, Remy, Hadley's ex-husband and Hunter's father, asks Sookie if she could take care of Hunter while he goes to a funeral, which she gladly agrees to do.

After Hunter's visit, Sookie tries to tell Eric about the body in the woods, but before she can, Appius Livius Ocella, Eric's maker, appears outside her house, and he's not alone.

There's always something happening in this book. Sookie has to deal with a lot of different problems and she also tries to help a lot of people. Ocella's visit challenges her relationship with Eric while it also threatens Eric's territory. We also see the friendship between her and Pam move forward, which is a very nice thing, seeing as how Pam is one of my favourite characters from the series. I know there are a lot of Bill fans out there, and all I'll say is that we'll know a very important piece of his past and we''ll see him make a few difficult choices.

One of my favourite things of this series is Sookie's friendship with Sam. We don't get to see much of him, but we do get updates on Sam's family. The character that surprised me the most, in a good way, is Jason. It seems like he has matured a lot since the last book and that he's trying to help Sookie the best he can, and that's proven along the book. I also got the impresion that the pack depends a lot on Sookie, and I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's very interesting.

I personally think that this novel was better than Dead And Gone, the previous one. The story goes back to vampire and werewolf politics while it also ties up a few loose ends from the last book.

Memorable Lines (may change in the finished version of the book):

"Are you a prude?" Claude seemed genuinely curious.
"No!" But after a second I said, "But maybe compared to you, yes! I like my privacy. I get to decide who sees me naked. Do you see my point?"
"Yes. Objectively speaking, you have beautiful points."
I thought the top of my head would pop off. "I didn't expect this when I told you that you could stay with me. You like men."
"Oh, yes, I definitely prefer men. But I can appreciate beauty. I have visited the other side of the fence."

Rating: 1/2