Based in Midnight, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, Midnight Crossroad is a wonderful character study of the kinds of people who desire to be out at the back of beyond. If you need an action-packed plot to be a happy reader, this is not the book for you.
Manfred Bernardo moves to Midnight to run his online psychic business and immediately meets Bobo Winthrop, the proprietor of a pawnshop across the street. Bobo helps Manfred unload his U-Haul truck. Readers of Harris’ other works will recognize both characters as coming from the Harper Connelly and the Lily Bard series. At dinner that first night, Manfred meets more of the people of Midnight. Fiji the witch, Joe and his boyfriend Chuy, their dog Rasta, the vampire who lives downstairs from Bobo, Madonna who runs the local diner, the Reverend, and the seemingly normal Lovell family. The prime question in this book is why does anyone chose to live in such a godforsaken place?
When they find the body of Bobo’s missing girlfriend, plots unravel and secrets come out. This book is a study in character. The slow unfolding of what secrets people choose to hide and what makes them tick is a journey I found vastly clever and interesting. What morals can a vampire have? What lengths will a father go to protect his psychotic son? This is Charlaine Harris’ magic, her ability to create interesting characters that live in a slightly un-normal world.
This is the first book in the new series by Harris, most famously known for her Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series. I have found her other series to be just as compelling.
May 2014, Ace Books.
—Jean, Kazoo Books
