A Touch of Dead [Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Series]

A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories) by Charlaine Harris

Has it ever felt while reading one of the nine (ten next month) books of SVM that something is missing? Like sometimes there are huge gaps between one book and the next which leave you wondering “wtf?”

Well, it turns out that some of these gaps are “filled” in a way by a series of short stories. In “A Touch of Dead” those short stories are for the first time gathered, set in chronological order and published in one book.

Let’s take a look at each of them and see how well they fill the above said gaps, shall we?

 Fairy Dust
The first story is set after book 4, Dead to the World, and before book 5, Dead as a Doornail. So we have already met Claudine but we don’t know much about her yet.

In Fairy Dust, we learn that Claudine is one third of triplets: she has a brother, Claude and a sister, Claudette. We never get to meet Claudette as she is already dead when the story begins; and that is the reason Sookie finds herself in the middle of another supe mystery in the first place: she is asked to find the murderer.

I will not say who did what, because I don’t want to ruin it for those that haven’t read it yet. I will say though that this story is a piece of the puzzle that was missing. When I first read Dead as a Doornail, the book that follows this story, I felt like I had missed part of the joke. While we had learnt very little about Claudine on the previous book, Sookie suddenly in DaaD seems to be very familiar with not only her, but also her beautiful, gay and narcissist brother Claude. When you follow a series of books religiously and claim to know every little detail about them, to suddenly find yourself out of the loop can leave you frustrated. Information is given within the books at one point or another but getting to read the whole story is a relief. In Fairy Dust we also learn for the first time how fairies can be killed and what happens to their body and spirit when they die.

Dracula Night

The second story, (which takes place probably after book 5 -but definitely after book 4 *wink, wink*) is about the birthday party Eric throws in Fangtasia for Count Dracula -in which of course Sookie is invited. I enjoyed Dracula Night very much. It is the only story in the book that has Eric in it and I like the way he is presented: while in the books we see an Eric that looks and behaves every bit of the Vampire Sheriff that he is, in Dracula Night he reminds me a little of Amnesiac Eric. He is like a child before Christmas morning; eager, excited, hopeful and a pain in Pam’s butt! We also see that he can be a bit of a geek too. Only, instead of worshipping George Lucas or Stan Lee, like most respectable geeks do, his idol is Dracula. It warms your heart a little bit more.

Furthermore, in Dracula Night Sookie is not just a passive observer and narrator of events but plays a more central role in the story. What is that? Read and find out!

One Word Answer

The third story in the book takes place between book 5, Dead as a Doornail and book 6, Definitely Dead, and once again fills some of the plot. It narrates the events of Hadley’s death, the first meeting Sookie has with both Mr. Cataliades and the Queen and introduces Hadley’s murderer, Waldo. The plot of this story doesn’t come as a surprise as it is often mentioned or implied in Definitely Dead, but it is a delight to see Sookie put the pieces together and act like the smart girl that we know she is. In latter books she doesn’t do that often so it’s a nice change.

I consider this first meeting with the Queen to be significant. For those who have read the following books, it is very interesting to see Sophie-Anne, Sookie and Bill interact for the first time and without Sookie knowing yet about Bill’s betrayal. We also get to learn what crossed Sookie’s mind when she first found out of Hadley’s death –or the fact that she had been turned for that matter.

This story could very easily have fitted in one of the books as it is the basis of a great plot; the events that follow it, pretty much shape the latter books. Unlike Dracula Night which is fun to read but makes no difference to the overall Sookieverse plot, One Word Answer is too important to have been left unwritten. Actually, I consider this the de facto beginning of Definitely Dead which CH chose to not include in the main SVM-universe for her own reasons... It’s worth reading A Touch of Dead, if only for this. Which I suspect is why CH made it a short story to begin with… ($$?)

Lucky

Lucky is one of those stories that have no real reason to exist. Greg, the insurance agent that we first met in Dead as a Doornail, is having the suspicion that someone is trying to sabotage his business. He asks for Sookie’s help and so she and Amelia start investigating his competition, only to find out that all the other insurance agencies in the area are experiencing some really bad luck. Too bad luck; the kind that can’t be accidental.

In this story we get to see Sookie and Amelia together in an adventure but in comparison to other situations these two have been through, this one pales. I would have survived without reading Lucky, that’s for sure.

Gift Wrap
In Gift Wrap, which takes place after the vampire takeover and before the events of Dead and Gone, while Eric is trying to find his balance in the new regime, Sookie finds herself spending the Christmas holidays all by herself, sad and lonely. That is, until she finds a werewolf out in the woods of her property, naked and injured. Being the kind and soft-hearted Sookie that we know, she offers him her hospitality and eventually… her bed; thus spending Christmas not so alone after all. Only Preston—said werewolf—is not what he seems…

This is the last short story of A Touch of Dead, and in my opinion the most ominous. The reason? Because we have yet to read its consequences. Preston, who is more than what he appears to be, becomes the fourth man that Sookie has ever slept with. Yet, he is never mentioned in the book that follows, Dead and Gone. Why mention a one-night stand you say? Well, for one, it is very out of character for our Southern-Belle to have a one-night stand, thus it’s an important fact all on its own. Plus, the true nature of Preston as well as the reason he was found by Sookie in the first place, leads me to believe that he will turn out to be more than a roll in the hay. Now all we have to do is wait and see…

Overall, A Touch of Dead is a compilation of stories with varying significance to the Sookieverse. Whether it’s worth reading or not depends on how much of an SVM-addict you are. If you want to know as much as possible for the Sookieverse, then it’s a must. And if you are looking for some light reading with your favourite characters in it, then it’s a good suggestion. That being said, it’s the only Sookieverse book I’ve read ONLY two times (the second one being for the purposes of this review), meaning that –while I do not regret buying it— it by no means reaches the regular SVM books. Or some of the fanfiction out there…