Midnight Crossroad (2014)
Written by: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Pages: 349 (Paperback)
Series: A Novel of Midnight Texas Book #1
Publisher: Ace
Why I Chose It: I am a huge fan of True Blood, which was based on Charlaine Harris’ The Southern Vampire Mysteries series. This is blasphemy, but I think the TV show was actually better than the books. I still finished the entire series, even though it went on about four books too long, because who doesn’t love crazy plots and sexy supernatural creatures? I enjoyed Harris’ writing well enough to pick this book up from the library.
The premise:
Take a trip to the small Texas town where only outsiders fit in with the first novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’ paranormal mystery series.
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and the Davy highway. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.
There’s a pawnshop with three residents. One is seen only at night. There’s a diner, but people stopping there tend not to linger. There’s a newcomer, Manfred Bernardo, who just wants to work hard and blend in. But Manfred has secrets of his own…
No Spoilers.
Discussion: Charlaine Harris excels at creating quirky communities. Bon Temps, the setting of The Southern Vampire Mysteries, always felt like a real place you could go to and Midnight, Texas is no different. The town restaurant, Home Cookin, serves fried catfish and baked chicken on Tuesdays and the sides “are mashed potatoes with cheese and onions, slaw, and a baked apple with cinnamon” (p. 7). In spite of the food, Midnight doesn’t feel quite as Southern as Bon Temps, which was part of the charm of The Southern Vampire Mysteries for me. The Texans aren’t immune to Southern hospitality, though. They do contemplate having the community picnic at night so the town vampire can come.
Midnight, Texas is a one stoplight town and nearly every citizen is involved in the storyline. All of the townspeople appear to be hiding dark secrets and/or running from a shady past. Manfred Bernardo is the newest resident, an online psychic who is equally parts fraud and the real deal. Fiji is a witch who runs a New Age shop out of her house. Bobo owns the local pawnshop and is landlord to Lem, the town vampire, his girlfriend, Olivia, and Manfred. Joey and Chuy are a married couple who own an antiques store. The town’s other married couple, Madonna and Teacher, run Home Cookin. Shawn runs the gas station and is a single father to Creek and Connor. The Rev is a mysterious loner whose church mostly conducts weddings and pet funerals.
Although there are a ton of characters to keep track of, the story is pretty clear-cut. Bobo’s girlfriend, Aubrey, has disappeared and white supremacists connected to his grandfather are in town because they think Bobo still has a stockpile of weapons. Most of the story is centered on Manfred because he is the new guy in town, which is unfortunate because he is one of the least interesting characters. I was more intrigued by The Rev, who keeps tending his pet cemetery as racist outlaw bikers surround the town and Olivia, who is always leaving on strange business trips and whose skills at dispatching bad guys make it clear that she isn’t out of town selling Mary Kay. I also liked Fiji, who loves Halloween and has a cat named Mr. Snuggly but who can be ruthless, too.
Given that Sookie Stackhouse’s love life was the driving force behind The Southern Vampire Mysteries and True Blood, I was surprised that Midnight Crossroad is a straightforward mystery. Fiji is in unrequited love with Bono and Manfred has a crush on Creek, but friendship and community are more significant in this book than romantic love. Things also took a decidedly darker turn than what I expected from a Charlaine Harris book. Even in True Blood, the violence always felt cartoonish and unreal to me. The focus on friendship and the more sinister tone makes Midnight Crossroad a better book than anything in The Southern Vampire Mysteries.
In conclusion: Charlaine Harris is never going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature but after reading several very scary books, it was nice to read a book that was spooky and fun but did not give me nightmares. I never watched the television show that was based on this series, Midnight, Texas. It’s unfortunate that it was canceled after only two seasons because I think this story is better than the books that inspired True Blood. Midnight Crossroad did make me want to read the rest of the books set in this universe.
I was curious about this when it came out, but never watched it (Dylan Bruce was in it, and he was in Orphan Black, hence my curiosity), nor have I read the book. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!