Book Review 2021 #7 - Seana Kelly's The Dead Don't Drink at Lafitte's
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: April 13th, 2021
Format: Kindle. 350 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)
Whomever said dating a vampire would be easy obviously wasn't a werewolf. Because Clive's coterie of vampires look down on Sam. In their minds she's so far beneath their master that they welcome his ex with open arms when she shows up on their doorstep. A doorstep to a house Sam's stuck in while her apartment and business are being rebuilt. Thankfully the ex isn't actually there to rekindle their romance, she's there to stage a coup. The Master of New Orleans wants Clive eliminated, the only problem is they didn't count on Sam. She saves Clive's life and realizes she might have more power over vampires than they'd be comfortable with. But her newfound powers will have to wait, this was a declaration of war and Clive will not let this stand. As the Master of San Francisco he can't leave his city unprotected, so he calls in some favors and heads on down to The Big Easy. But he can't be certain that his vampires haven't been compromised. How many are still loyal to him and how many are using Sam's presence as an excuse to grasp the brass ring? So Clive calls in another favor. Someone capable of guarding Sam when he must rest. Someone who happens to be deadly with the merest glance. He calls in a gorgon. Stheno is the perfect body guard. Not only is she good at decorating Clive's New Orleans home with statues of their enemies, she's someone apart from the politics of vampires whom Sam can talk to and, more importantly, share a meal with, because vampires sure don't know how to feed the living let alone feed a werewolf with a high metabolic rate. But thankfully that's what the many restaurants in New Orleans are there for! That and to provide a distraction from all the vampires who might want Clive dead. There's not just the Master of the city, but the ancient St. Germain who prefers to wield power from the shadows and is taking an unhealthy interest in Sam. Sam has a lot of danger to face if she wants to make it back safely to San Francisco, but thankfully she has a passel of new friends and an entire pack of werewolves who've got her back.
As someone who reads and watches a lot of media involving vampires there's one thing I can't stand, and that's vampire politics. Sure, you could hate their brooding nature and how possessive they are, but thankfully for every story that does this there's another that pokes fun at it. And yet vampire politics for some reason rarely get lampooned. The reason The Dead Don't Drink at Lafitte's really spoke to me is because it switched direction about a third of the way through the book. Before Sam and Clive left for New Orleans I was completely dreading reading this volume because it looked like it was going to be nothing but vampire politics. And then all of a sudden it wasn't. All of a sudden it was more about the city and the life of New Orleans and Sam's world opening up while the vampires were off doing their own thing or sleeping the day away. And what it celebrated most of all about New Orleans was the food. Having a heroine who has a metabolism that just won't quit meant that she not only ate tons of food, with many courses, but that it was lovingly described. I would have gladly beaten up someone for a beignet at any time while reading this book. And now I just realized a problem while writing this review, I'm thinking about beignets again... So I will now try to wrench my brain away from the beignets and talk about my new favorite character, who also happens to love food as much as Sam, Stheno. Stheno is a gorgon. And she is my new BFF. I'm sorry, you can't have her, she's going to hang out with me on a couch and eat tons of food. She's funny, she's surly, and she and Sam just get each other. They have a dark and quirky sense of humor that meshes well. The introduction of Stheno really takes the whole series to a new level because Urban Fantasy shouldn't only be about werewolves, vampires, and the fae, though so much is. Stheno firmly establishes the other creatures within Sam's universe and I am here for it.
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