This book starts off with a great deal of promise. There's a meeting between Malcolm, head of the vampire church, and Anita. And it even takes place in her office where she works as raiser of the dead. It seems Malcolm is concerned about two of his parishioners. They've been accused of murder, but Malcolm thinks they've been framed.  And he's sure he knows who really did it. It is someone whose name he cannot speak. Go to Jean-Claude, ask him, Malcolm advises. She does. Pretty soon Anita is thinking of bringing her friend Edward in to help out.

I really didn't intend to buy another Anita Blake novel, that's how disappointed I've been in Hamilton's last few novels. But honestly, I can't seem to stay away. And frankly, I'm glad I read this one. THE HARLEQUIN actually had a plot, not just a beginning mystery, a lot of sex and talking about sex, then a resolution to the mystery. Oh don't get me  wrong, there's still a lot of talk. It's almost as though Hamilton sits at her computer and just writes whatever comes into her mind, without editing a thing out of it. But she does seem to be trying to curtail the speakers tendency to go off down side paths this time. There's still a lot of dialog, but, she actually has one character or another saying things like lets get back to the subject. And Anita's inner thoughts still ramble along about things that have nothing to do with the plot. But this book was much better than the last three or four. Anita will never go back to being the woman we all fell in love with, but maybe there is some hope for an entertaining read somewhere down the road. I look forward to that time.
This book starts off with a great deal of promise. There's a meeting between Malcolm, head of the vampire church, and Anita. And it even takes place in her office where she works as raiser of the dead. It seems Malcolm is concerned about two of his parishioners. They've been accused of murder, but Malcolm thinks they've been framed. And he's sure he knows who really did it. It is someone whose name he cannot speak. Go to Jean-Claude, ask him, Malcolm advises. She does. Pretty soon Anita is thinking of bringing her friend Edward in to help out. I really didn't intend to buy another Anita Blake novel, that's how disappointed I've been in Hamilton's last few novels. But honestly, I can't seem to stay away. And frankly, I'm glad I read this one. THE HARLEQUIN actually had a plot, not just a beginning mystery, a lot of sex and talking about sex, then a resolution to the mystery. Oh don't get me  wrong, there's still a lot of talk. It's almost as though Hamilton sits at her computer and just writes whatever comes into her mind, without editing a thing out of it. But she does seem to be trying to curtail the speakers tendency to go off down side paths this time. There's still a lot of dialog, but, she actually has one character or another saying things like lets get back to the subject. And Anita's inner thoughts still ramble along about things that have nothing to do with the plot. But this book was much better than the last three or four. Anita will never go back to being the woman we all fell in love with, but maybe there is some hope for an entertaining read somewhere down the road. I look forward to that time.