The first half was only three stars. I liked the intrigue with the main character, Lily Bard. There were, however, so many characters introduced in such a short period of time, along with their back stories, that I felt a little overwhelmed. "Am I really expected to keep all of these people straight?!" 
 By the second half, I admit, I was actually following the characters just fine. A rare quality in a mystery, is where the reader is actually provided with all the clues along the way, and left to piece it together. Usually, an author will simply leave out the case-breaker until they reveal who the killer is, but I really enjoyed being able to figure things out along with Lily. 
 And, seriously, who doesn't love a woman who can kick some ass? A strong female lead is always a plus. It really showed Charlaine Harris's versatility as a writer, since I didn't see a single iota of Sookie Stackhouse.