Bloody Bones is the fifth book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of novels. The series also includes Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, The Lunatic Cafe, and fourteen additional books.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/works.html There are more than six million copies of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter books in print worldwide and the series has been translated into sixteen languages.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/works.html

Bloody Bones was first released in 1996, and was dedicated to Hamilton’s mother, Susie May Gentry Klein. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0515134465/?tag=datoys-20#reader_0515134465 The book has an underlying theme of Anita dealing with her own mother’s death, which Hamilton found was a way to write about her own pain of wanting her mother to be alive and with her again. http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/running_with_my_demons Hamilton went on to name her character in her fae series of books, Meredith Gentry, after her mother by using her mother’s maiden name for the character’s surname. http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/running_with_my_demons

Laurell K. Hamilton began her college career studying creative writing, but was forced to leave the program when a professor thought her dark writing might create a “corrupting influence” on the other students in the program. http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html Like Anita Blake, the main character of the series, the author resides in St. Louis and has a degree in biology. She also has a degree in English, and lives with her daughter and husband.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html The Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series was Hamilton’s second attempt at serial fiction. Her first series began with the book Nightseer, but further books in the series never made it to print.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html

In this continuation of the Anita Blake: Vampire hunter series, the heroine is once again faced with a difficult job offer. Animators Inc. is bidding on a job to raise a graveyard of corpses to move the bodies and make way for a resort. Because of the age of the corpses, it is possible that Anita is the only person in the world who can do this job, so she and her protege Larry travel to Branson, Missouri. Near to the graveyard, she finds a crime scene investigation in progress, and joins in the hunt for the murderer.

The investigation leads Anita to a local restaurant, Bloody Bones, where she meets a fae brother and sister pair that run the establishment. Soon after, Jean Claude joins Anita in Branson in an attempt to assist her in the case, raising the ire of the local vampire pack, who are offended at his arrival without announcement, a breach of protocol. Anita, Larry, Jean Claude and his companion Jason must attempt to solve both the murders and the diplomatic issues before Anita can complete the graveyard raising.http://books.google.ca/books?id=J-bhfFkyBzIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bloody+bones&hl=en&ei=b0YgTcbDH5GosAOu6JXSAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

• "When Anita Blake's boss at Animators, Inc., informs her that she's expected to raise 300-year-old zombies from a field of jumbled bones just to settle a land dispute, she's understandably annoyed. But as soon as she arrives in Branson, Missouri, to do the deed, the job gets more interesting. A psychotic sword-wielding vampire starts committing multiple murders in the area, and Anita must call on Jean-Claude, her powerful fanged suitor, for help. As always, Anita prevails over the undead, keeping Jean-Claude at arm's length, clearing the cemetery land of an ancient enchantment, and nailing the vampiric killer in one fell swoop." — Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0515134465/?tag=datoys-20

• “Highly-charged, well-written, no holds-barred… jaw-dropping.” — The Denver Posthttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0515134465/?tag=datoys-20