Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series has really hit it big. Besides being a nice mix of the occult and humor, everyone is diving into the long-popular series since it has been converted into a television show on HBO. This volume collects a number of stories that have been written over the years and included in collections of vampire tales from popular writers in the genre.

In "Fairy Dust," readers got their first chance to meet Claude AND Claudine, two twin fairies that eventually play a major role in Sookie's life. In this case, they have approached Sookie so she can use her psychic abilities to help identify which employee of a local strip club killed the third sibling in their triplet set.

"One Word Answer" connects the citizens of Bon Temps with New Orleans when Sookie learns what happened to her long lost cousin who disappeared a short time earlier. It turns out that she ended up becoming a vampire before being dusted, but she had connections to the high vampire court.

In "Lucky," Sookie and Amelia, a new character in the series and a friend with a quirky talent in witchcraft, find themselves on a case. They have been asked by a local insurance agency to find out why people seem to be after him.

And finally, Sookie gets a little bit of Christmas in "Gift Wrap." She was gearing up for a quiet holiday since everyone she knew was busy with their own family obligations while she was running a little short with having a family of her own. That all changes when she runs across a badly wounded Were in the woods. She brings him home to her home to help clean him up and protect him from another group of Weres out to hurt him, leading to quite a pleasant time.

The stories are fun, and fans of the series will find that they either fill in some background information or further some character development. It would be difficult for readers not familiar with the novels in the series to know what is really going on.