Blood Bound

This is the 2nd book in the "Mercy Thompson" series by Patricia Briggs and I stayed up til 4 am to finish it--yikes! I chanced upon the newest in the series, Frost Burned, and was so captured by the characters and storyline that I immediately tracked down the first one, Moon Called, and started the series from the beginning. Mercy knows most of the preternaturals in her home of the Tri-Cities in Washington state--fae (faeiries), vampires, and werewolves. She herself is a Native American shapeshifter (Coyote) and a "walker" which gives her unique powers beyond becoming four-footed at will. She is less subject to the entrancement of vampires, can talk to ghosts, and can sense magic. When vampire friend Stefan comes to ask a favor, Mercy has to agree because she owes him. She will accompany him, in her coyote form, to a meeting with a vampire who has come into the seethe's territory without notifying the vampire queen. The situation goes terribly awry when the vampire in question turns out to be demon-possessed and incapacitates Stefan, brutally murders an innocent victim in front of Mercy, and then beats but does not kill her. Moreover, he alters Stefan's memory so he thinks he committed the murder. Mercy has to testify at a vampire trial as to what really happened and Stefan is sent to bring the demon-vampire to justice. He is being assisted by two of the local werewolf pack's best soldiers because none of the local preternaturals want the kind of attention this is going to bring. The murderer is wreaking havoc in the Tri-Cities area and all sorts of violent crimes, including murders, have increased in frequency. Mercy is trying to keep the police from finding out about the existence of the vampires while assuring them that action is being taken to find the responsible party. Then the entire posse disappears, two more were's go after them and also disappear, and Mercy knows they are running out of time. The vampire queen tasks her with finding the demon-vampire and Mercy gets a little help from fae friend, Zee, in the form of vampire killing tools, and from a local ghost who tells her, inadvertently, where the demon-vampire is hiding out. Mercy uses her brains as well as her courage to sort the puzzle of where the demon-vampire came from and why now. Absolutely compelling reading with fascinating characters and good local color.