Deadlocked

The events of Dead Reckoning—particularly the death of the despicable but powerful vampire Victor—have consequences for Sookie Stackhouse and her supernatural gang in Harris’s intriguing 12th and penultimate series installment. When Sookie’s vampire husband, Eric Northman, summons her to his Shreveport home to welcome the visiting king, Felipe de Castro, and his entourage, she’s shocked to find Eric feeding on another woman while the king and his underlings ravage their own humans downstairs. The woman Eric fed from turns up dead on his front lawn and someone calls the police, putting Eric and Felipe’s entourage under suspicion. With the help of ex-boyfriend Bill Compton, Sookie grudgingly sets out to clear Eric’s name while trying to keep the local fae under control after her kin, Claude and Niall, return to the land of Faery. As loyalties realign and betrayals are unmasked, Harris ably sets the stage for the ensemble’s last hurrah. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary Agency. (May)