Favorite Lines: “Jake Purifoy’s body was heavy on top of mine, and his hands were pressing my free arm to the floor, and his legs were on top of mine. Another hunger was waking in the new vampire, and I felt its evidence pressing against my thigh. He freed a hand to begin yanking at my pants.” (p. 177)
Sookie, cocktail waitress, friend to the Others, and all around confused young woman, is attacked by recently converted weres while she’s on a date with Quinn, the weretiger. She is now a target and has no idea why.
The attack pushes a reluctant Sookie into traveling to New Orleans to clean out her recently murdered cousin’s apartment where she discovers there is more to her cousin’s death than she was told. Her cousin (Hadley) was a new vampire and consort to Louisiana royalty.
Vampire hierarchy is at play throughout Definitely Dead. A vampire marriage between the Queen of Louisiana and the King of Arkansas is being brokered and Hadley had possession of something that could ruin the Louisiana vampires if it wasn’t returned. Sookie unknowingly has been a cultivated pawn and is brought in to play her part and solve the mystery of the missing possession.
Still consumed by guilt over killing her friend Alcide’s ex-girlfriend, Sookie is being sought out by the dead shifter’s family. The girl’s parents and sister visit Merlotte’s in order to talk to Sookie and sniff out her involvement (if any) in their daughter’s disappearance. Sookie stonewalls the family, but they have other ways of learning what they want.
Out of all the books, Definitely Dead made me thoroughly hate Bill. This book showed him for the conniving bastard he is and firmly (I hope) shut the door on any relationship the two might have been able to have. It also showed the darker side of vampires and their priority of vampires first which becomes important in the series.
Quinn is back after his brief introduction in Dead as a Doornail and boy is he sizzling. I find myself at odds over wanting both Eric and Quinn for Sookie. Both have their own appeal and I have high hopes for both in future books.
Read Retroredux’s Reviews, All About, Debbie’s World, Anna the Piper, or Calico Reaction.
Scooper Speaks 
I LOVE this series, but I’m going crazy thinking I missed a book!!! When did Waldo kill Sookie’s cousin Hadley. And when did the queen let Sookie decide what to do with Waldo for his transgression. I feel like I missed a whole book, but i checked like 4 times. and I didn’t. (I read the 1st book 2 weeks ago, and now I’m on Definitely Dead, so I kind of read them fast) What gives???!?
I’m in the same boat as Anna. I just read that part in the book about Waldo and it made me think I missed something. I had to look back at the list thinking I missed a book or read them in the wrong order!! I don’t think I did. Is this correct?
Anna & Maryann: You did not miss a book. I thought the same thing. I guess Harris is known for putting short stories about Sookie in different anthologies. No need to rush out and buy the diff. anthologies though.
According to Harris’ website, “A Touch of Dead, a compilation of previously published Sookie Stackhouse stories, will be on the shelves on Oct. 6, 2009.
The website also tells where to find the missing story: “Sookie’s cousin Hadley’s background is contained in the short story “One Word Answer,” originally published in the anthology BITE. Laurell K. Hamilton is usually listed as the main writer in this anthology.