A Touch of Dead is a compilation of previously published short stories about Sookie Stackhouse, the mind-reading vampire-loving waitress from Louisiana and star of True Blood. This book a very easy read, not only due to the large type set and generous spacing that makes you feel a little like it’s not going to be a heavy groundbreaking work.

If you’re a fan of Sookie Stackhouse, you’ve probably already read these stories as this book is simply gathering them together (they were published from 2004 through 2008).

I’d like to add a disclaimer at this point that this was the first Sookie Stackhouse book I’ve read, so I know that I don’t have the whole picture. Harris does give a concession in the stories to people who may not have read her other novels and explains a lot of the background, such as Sookie’s relationships and her mind-reading ability.

I feel that although this was quite helpful to me as a newbie to Sookie, seasoned readers may have been annoyed by this. This probably wasn’t the best book to read as an introduction to Sookie, as there are quite a few spoilers in there, since the stories fit in between later novels in the series.

Sookie’s mind-reading detective work is the focus of three of the stories. In Fairy Dust she is asked by two of the triplet fairies, Claude and Claudine, to find out who the murderer of their sister Claudette is. Dracula night sees Sookie as the only human celebrating Dracula’s birthday at Fangtasia, a bar for supernatural beings.

There’s a rumour that Dracula himself may turn up to the party, and Sookie finds herself an unwilling volunteer as a drink for a Dracula wannabe. In Lucky Sookie and her friend Amelia, a witch, investigate some recent break-ins at an insurance company and end up restoring balance to the universe … really.

One word answer is more of a slow-burner story, which is interesting given that it is 35 pages long. It has an entirely predictable twist that I wouldn’t be surprised seeing in a high school short story competition. This story seems to be a little bit of detail that Harris couldn’t fit into one of her novels but really wanted people to know.

Gift wrap was shaping up to be my favourite story in the book, until the twist was revealed. Then it was a little creepy. I don’t want to spoil the story but let’s just say that Sookie’s recently discovered fairy prince great-grandfather (I know that sounds trite, it wasn’t explained in detail and I hope that there is a good explanation for it in the novels) gives her a present that, although nice for a single young woman, you wouldn’t really want an older relative giving you. This story would be appreciated by the women who enjoy supernatural romance, like Twilight.

The intended audience of this book is probably people who have read these books and appreciate the deeper meaning of the events relayed here. The cynical side to me, however, wonders if there actually is a deeper meaning of these events. In most of them Sookie is acting like some sort of supernatural Sherlock Holmes. I don’t know if this is her usual activity in the novels, but the situations seemed a bit forced (maybe that’s just one of the pitfalls of a short story collection).

A Touch of Dead seems to be to the Sookie Stackhouse novel series what The Tales of Beedle the Bard was to the Harry Potter series. It’s not necessary to read this book in order to understand the story arcs of the main novels, but it does add an extra level of information for the dedicated reader. If you’re looking for something deep and meaningful to read, look elsewhere.

A Touch of Dead was provided to Keeping the Door by the book’s publisher for reviewing purposes.

Sookie Stackhouse writer Charlaine Harris has reportedly signed up to write three more books in the Southern Vampire series starring Sookie Stackhouse.

So far, the series only goes up to book nine, Dead and Gone, which was published in May this year, with a tenth book, Dead in the Family, planned for May 2010. Actually, if you believe Wikipedia, most of the books were published in May, one each year!

But, reports SFScope.com, Ginjer Buchanan at Ace Books has bought rights to publish three more books in the series. Harris’ web site also states that A Touch of Dead, a compilation of previously published stories set in the Sookie Stackhouse universe, will be published in early October this year. The success of the series is being partially fuelled by the populaity of a HBO TV series based on it, True Blood.

According to her blog, Harris has been busy. In the most recent post, dated 10 August, she writes she has been working hard trying to bring Dead in the Family to a close:

“Lots of unexpected things happened, and I realized I have to cut a couple of characters I had big plans for, but I’ll save them for another book. It took me a while to realize what the theme of the book was, and when I realized it was about family – Eric’s, Sam’s, Sookie’s, Bill’s – suddenly everything became much easier. I’m taking my laptop to Los Angeles with me this week as I visit The City of Angels for a round of meetings. Wish me calm and peace.”

The author has a number of conferences coming up — Dragon Con, Bouchercon and then New Orleans’ Vampire Ball, followed by an event in Houston. “After that I’ll be home for a few months, and working hard,” she adds. “I have a Sookie novella to write for the Companion, and then I have to decide what to do next. I may have to start on Sookie 11, or I may have time to work on something else. It would be nice to have a different writing topic for a little while.”