Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris, UK edition cover.
Title: Deadlocked (Southern Vampire Mysteries #12)
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Gollancz (1st May 2012)
Blurb:
Sookie has a murder investigation on her hands.
A young girl has died at a vampire party – and it looks as though her lover, Eric, might be responsible. Eric swears he didn’t do it, the police don’t believe him, and even Sookie isn’t so sure. Not is she inclined to take his word for it, not having caught him enjoying the victim’s blood minutes before she was killed.
But something strange is going on. Why had Sookie been asked to come to the fateful party a few minutes early – just to catch Eric in the act? And why had the victim spiked her own blood before approaching Eric? Was it simply because she wanted to be irresistible, or was it something more sinister?
Sookie will have to find out . . . but it’s the worst moment to investigate, as her Fae family are having troubles of their own and Sookie is, inevitably, drawn in. And there is one last complication. The cluviel dor her grandmother left her. It will grant her one wish, which could fulfil Sookie’s heart’s desire. The only problem is, she still doesn’t know what – or who – her heart truly desires . . .
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:
Deadlocked is the twelfth and penultimate book in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series – which when I first read it was referred to as The Southern Vampire Mysteries, and I still think of it that way. I’ve been reading this series for a while as I’m kinda curious to see how things will play out.
You can really tell with this book that Harris is drawing plot strands together and tying them off. And to be honest, I’m kinda glad that Harris has made the decision to end the series and not to continue it indefinitely. Don’t get me wrong, I love the series and I think Sookie is a really interesting character, but I also feel that book series should at some point conclude. Harris did a really good job with starting to tie off the plot threads in this book, and I found Deadlocked a really enjoyable read.
One of the things that I really love about the Sookie Stackhouse series is that even though a year (ish) has passed since I last read a book in the series (to be particular that was Dead Reckoning and you can find my review for it here) I fell straight into the story. Harris does a brilliant job of reminding me what happened in pervious books without making it obvious – so kudos to her! The plot – the mystery – of this book was done brilliantly, though I did have a few guesses as I read that turned out to be right. A number of different things come to a head in this book, which provides an interesting climax to the book.
I found Sookie a brilliant narrator and an interesting character. I really enjoy reading about her life, and am sad that there will only be one more book to go before I have to say goodbye – especially as I’m not a fan of HBO’s TrueBlood. I also enjoyed getting a peek into Sookie’s friends’ and family’s lives. And, of course, I enjoyed reading about Eric and Bill and Sam. The next – and final – book in the series should be an interesting read. I look forward to getting my hands on it :)
