Day Shift - My Kind of Town

TITLE: Day Shift (Midnight, Texas #2)
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
PUBLISHER: Ace
PUBLISHING DATE: May 5, 2015 (out now - what are you waiting for!!!!)

FROM GOODREADS: In Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris “capture[d] the same magic as the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and [took] it to another level" (Houston Press). Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels returns to the one-traffic-light town you see only when you’re on the way to someplace else…

There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, Texas, where the residents like to keep to themselves. Even in a town full of secretive people, Olivia Charity is an enigma. She lives with the vampire Lemuel, but no one knows what she does; they only know that she’s beautiful and dangerous.

Psychic Manfred Bernardo finds out just how dangerous when he goes on a working weekend to Dallas and sees Olivia there with a couple who are both found dead the next day. To make matters worse, one of Manfred’s regular—and very wealthy—clients dies during a reading.

Manfred returns from Dallas embroiled in scandal and hounded by the press. He turns to Olivia for help; somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight…

MY THOUGHTS: 
I received an ARC of this book from Penguin First to Read, which in no way influences my review. I can't say enough how much I love this book. Often the second book in a series seems a tad weak, but that is not the case here. Once again readers are transported into the world of Midnight, Texas complete with its zany characters. This installment focuses primarily on Manfred and Olivia, but every resident is in the book somewhere and plays a part.

The book opens with several deaths and centers around figuring out what happened. Some of the mysteries are solved, but in true Midnight, Texas fashion, readers are kept in suspense regarding some matters until the next book. I enjoyed learning more about Manfred, Bobo, Olivia, Fuji and the Rev. There are also some new players, and without including spoilers, one of my favorite minor characters from the Stackhouse series makes a welcome appearance.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed some of Harris' earlier works and most definitely to anyone who read Midnight Crossroads and was unsure about continuing. I found this book to be better than the last, and it broke the reading slump I was falling into in record time. The only downside is that I now have to wait until next year for the 3rd book!

MY RATING: 4 PAWS