Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris.

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dead as a Doornail is the fifth instalment in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. In this novel, Sookie is on the hunt for a serial killers who has a particular dislike of the local population of Weres and Shifters. Of course, the police don't know this, but Sookie pinpoints the connection after her boss gets shot. When her brother, Jason, becomes the main suspect in the killings, Sookie takes it upon herself to find the real killer and clear her brother's name.

The previous four novels in this series are focused on Sookie's lovelife, however, in Dead as a Doornail Sookie is romantically unattached. Despite this, there remains plenty of romantic interest in the Bon Temps barmaid from a number of male Supes, but Sookie is keeping her distance from all men after the giddy romantics of book 4.

In this novel Sookie learns a lot about the Were world, and even though vampires (notably Bill and Eric) are still around and are mentioned somewhat regularly (obviously still occupying Sookie's thoughts), Dead as a Doornail is decidely more about the Weres than the Vamps.

I must admit that I had the killer's identity sorted relatively early on in the piece, but despite this it was still interesting to follow Sookie (and her thoughts) as she sleuths herself into the middle of a seriously dangerous situation.

However, Dead as a Doornail lacks the allure of the earlier novels. It doesn't have the same level of magic, romance and supernatural intrigue, and perhaps left a little more wanting than it would have otherwise because book four (Dead to the World) was just so damn good. In fact, Dead as a Doornail feels a lot like "filler", and the number of inconsistencies in the book makes me think the editor didn't take it all that seriously either.

Can only give this one 3 stars, but it won't deter me from reading the rest: I'm far too hooked on Sookie and her supernatural existence to stop now!

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THE LADY OF THE RIVERS GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

I am currently hosting a giveaway for The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory.

All you have to do to enter the draw is to leave a comment on my review post. Entries will be taken until midnight (Australian Central Standard Time) on Friday, 10 February 2012. The winner will be announced sometime over that weekend (11 - 12 February).

Giveaway is open to everyone, on the condition that the Book Depository ships free to your country.

The winner will receive this paperback copy of The Lady of the Rivers.

Best of luck!