In Burnt Offerings some of the eggs laid in Circus of the Damned end up coming home to roost. Specifically, the vampire “Council” is visiting in order to investigate Jean-Claude’s intentions following the death of Mr. Oliver. Normally, when you kill a member of the vampire council, you assume his seat. But Jean-CLaude didn’t kill Oliver; that honor belongs to Anita. The only problem is, Jean-CLaude isn’t a strong enough vampire to hold the council seat – and if they find out Anita did the killing, she’ll be next on the menu.
It’s said that some authors like to torture their characters. This book is proof that that’s sometimes true. The council’s visit is an excuse for them to do their best to break Jean-Claude’s friends and followers by whatever means they feel necessary, up to and including torture.
If you think that this isn’t exactly a model government, you wouldn’t be wrong. But it makes for an interesting novel, if a bit sadistic at times.
The gore level here has been turned down a notch, but the eroticism is present and stronger than before. Unlike later novels, the plot is driving events, rather than Anita’s sexuality. This keeps things to a bearable level, especially as there are interesting new vampires to contend with.
The police murder mystery in Burnt Offerings involves, unsurprisingly, arson. Other than that it’s fairly standard, with the needs of the investigation forcing Anita to play with the monsters more than she would prefer. Her involvement with the lycanthropes increases as well, as their aid becomes a necessary part of her power base. The attendant touchy-feely is kept to a minimum and Anita’s complaints about such are mostly muted.
And following the events of the previous book, Anita’s (professional) relationship with Dolph is more than a little strained.
Overall, it’s definitely not the best of the series, but it’s solid.
