Since Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has so few living relatives, she hates to lose one--even her cousin Hadley, undead consort of the vampire queen of New Orleans. Hadley's left everything she had to Sookie, but claiming that inheritance has a high risk factor. Some people don't want her looking too deeply into Hadley's past or Hadley's possessions. And they're prepared to do anything in their power to stop her...