Very good second installment. Anita continues to entertain with her snarky humor and we learn more about her background, including that her late mother was Mexican and she was partially raised by her maternal grandmother who helped her better control her powers. Her relationship with the master vampire, Jean-Claude, continues to be strained. Although, wouldn't anyone's be if there is a vampire trying to make you their human servant? The villain of this book was very intimidating and creepy, even for Anita Blake. I like that they started to introduce new elements to the world including an exploration of the rules of voodoo magic in this world. I enjoyed it even more than the first book I think because we got to learn more about Anita as a character. I hope to find out more about her past in the next one. No sex in this book either, which again, I'm hoping stays more of the norm, at least for a while. The entertainment value in this series is really the mysteries and detective elements.