Day Shift

Sookie successor sequel

Release Date: 7 May

317 pages | Hardback/ ebook Author: Charlaine Harris Publisher: Gollancz

Having ended Sookie

Stackhouse’s story, Charlaine Harris can’t quite leave the world of the Southern Vampire Mysteries behind, as several familiar faces make a reappearance in the little Texan town of Midnight.

To call Midnight a town is a bit misleading; it’s basically a crossroads with some houses and shops scattered along it. In the first book in the Midnight, Texas series, Midnight Crossing, the residents were all revealed to be eccentric verging on the downright weird – Fiji the overweight witch, Manfred the internet psychic, Bobo the pawnshop owner whose vampire landlord resides in his basement, and a scattering of others. It was charming, nonetheless.

On the surface, this second story is Manfred’s, as his neighbours rally round to help him after a client he’s giving a personal consultation to dies and he’s accused of theft. However, you know there’s more to both the hotel reopening and the Rev ( the local vicar) taking care of a young child than meets the eye...

How you feel about the reappearance of two of Harris’s older characters will depend on your appetite for the Southern Vampire Mysteries; your reaction to familiar faces might be delight, but if you felt Sookie’s tale had grown stale towards the end, you might be more inclined to groan. Arguably, bringing side characters from those books in just drags the bubbly quaintness of Midnight down. Miriam McDonald There’s also an audiobook version of Day Shift. It’s narrated by Susan Bennett, better known as the voice of Siri.