Charlaine Harris: A Touch of Dead

Review by Vicky London

A Touch of Dead is a collection of previously published Sookie Stackhouse stories. The five short stories have appeared in various anthologies but are now combined into one volume.

In “Fairy Dust” Sookie finds her mind reading talents in demand when her fairy godmother, Claudine’s sister is murdered. This story takes place after the events of Dead to the World.

In “Dracula Night”, Eric is like a little kid waiting for Santa to show up. It’s the legendary Dracula’s birthday and there’s a big celebration at Fangtasia. Unfortunately, the Dracula who appears is probably not the real thing and Sookie steps in to save the day. This story takes place before Dead as a Doornail.

In “One Word Answer” Sookie is informed of her cousin Hadley’s untimely death. The news is delivered by the half-demon lawyer Mr. Cataliades who is employed by the vampire Queen of Louisiana. The message, however is not as simple as it seems and Sookie will have to puzzle out what really happened to her estranged family member. This story takes place after Dead as a Doornail.

“Lucky” is a lighter story featuring the dynamic duo of Sookie and her witchy roommate Amelia. They combine their talents to uncover they mystery of a break-in at a local insurance office and instead discover the reason why he has such good luck. The action takes place after the book, All Together Dead.

My favorite story in the collection is “Gift Wrap”. Sookie is alone on Christmas Eve and feeling a bit sorry for herself. A unexpected overnight guest brings along some drama and excitement to lift her from her doldrums with a satisfying gift. This story takes place before the book Dead and Gone.

I completely understand that the publisher is taking advantage of the popularity of True Blood on HBO to promote another book but I don’t think a $23.95 hardcover is the best way to go about that. I had previously read all of these stories in the different anthologies in which they appeared so it was a bit disappointing that there wasn’t at least one new story. On the other hand, it is nice to have them all in one volume because there’s nothing more annoying than having to spend money on an anthology when you only want to read one of two of the authors included.

Publisher: Ace
Release Date: October 6, 2009
ISBN-10: 0441017835

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