The second in the Southern
Vampire series by Charlaine Harris, this novel features the telepathic barmaid, Sookie Stackhouse,
her undead boyfriend,
vampire Bill Compton, Bill's boss-vampire, Eric, and many other characters from the previous book, Dead Until Dark.
It also introduces a new supernatural character, a maenad, or female spirit dedicated to intoxicating beverages. A maenad loves a proud man--- as a menu item.
The story begins when Lafayette, a gay African-American who works at the bar Merlotte's, is found murdered in a police detective's car. He had been bragging about a sex party he had attended, and Sookie speculates that he may have been killed to keep him quiet.
Sookie is summoned to Shreveport by vampire Eric, but on the way she is accosted by the maenad, who attacks her as a message to Eric. The vampires of Shreveport gallantly offer to suck the poison from Sookie's blood, which makes Bill very jealous.
Later, Sookie and Bill must journey to Dallas, to find a missing vampire. Sookie finds a few leads telepathically, and then goes undercover to a mysterious anti-vampire cult, the Fellowship of the Sun. Sookie is betrayed to the cult by Hugo, a man who's dating a Dallas vampire, but she manages to escape and the vampire in question is rescued.
Later, at the Dallas vampire headquarters, Sookie is caught up in an attack against the vampires and is dismayed at Bill's vengeful behavior. She goes home from Dallas alone.
It develops that the sex-party that Lafayette attended was thrown by people Sookie knows, and she gets an invitation to the next sex-party. She asks Eric to come to the party with her. There she discovers the killers of Lafayette. The maenad returns and metes out justice to the killers and the vampires help cover up the event.
The story ends with Bill Compton discovering that the Bellefleurs, a family he hates, are actually his descendants, and Sookie worrying about her recent intake of vampire blood.