Undead and Unworthy (Queen Betsy, Book 7) Summary and Reviews

Undead and Unworthy (Queen Betsy, Book 7)
by MaryJanice Davidson

Undead and Unworthy (Queen Betsy, Book 7)
List Price: $23.95
Our Price: $11.03
You Save: $12.92 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.78 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-24
ISBN: 0425221628
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover

Book Reviews of Undead and Unworthy (Queen Betsy, Book 7)

Book Review: Kicks off a new "Queen Betsy" comic vampire trilogy
Summary: 4 Stars


This comedy vampire thriller is number seven in a series which combines chick lit romantic comedy and vampire thriller - from the viewpoint of the new and particularly incongruous Queen of the Vampires.

Imagine a cross between "Sex and the City" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and you've roughly got the idea.

The plotlines of the first six books were more or less resolved in number six, "Undead and Uneasy" so this book, "Undead and Unworthy," kicks off what Mary Janice Davidson calls a new "story arc" - she also says that this will be a trilogy.

The full list of Queen Betsy stories to date is

1) Undead and Unwed
2) Undead and Unemployed
3) Undead and Unappreciated
4) Undead and Unreturnable
5) Undead and Unpopular
6) Undead and Uneasy.
7) Undead and Unworthy

There is also a "Queen Betsy" novella in Davidson's book "Dead over Heels" which is a collection of three paranormal romance stories. In my opinion you will get most out of these books if you read them in order: I would start with "Undead and Unwed" and work on from there.

The "Queen Betsy" books are told in the first person by Elizabeth Taylor, who prefers to be called Betsy for obvious reasons. The first words of the series are "The day I died started out bad and got worse in a hurry."

Betsy is a former model and is still a fashion fanatic: at the start of the series, on the morning of her disastrous 30th birthday, she is working as a secretary. Her main interests are designer shoes, designer clothes, and her cat. In quick succession she gets fired, loses her cat, and is killed in a car accident. It is a great surprise to her when she rises again as a most unusual vampire. It is even more of a surprise when, through a sequence of bizarre events, she becomes queen of the vampires.

At the start of this seventh book, the initial chaos which results from Betsy's accession to the Vampire Throne appears to have died down. But then, in quick succession,

* Betsy's ghastly and recently-deceased stepmother Antonia (who she thinks of as "the Ant") starts haunting her

* Local detective Nick Berry, who is also the boyfriend of Betsy's best friend Jessica, asks Betsy for some discreet help in solving the horrible murders of a number of gangsters. He suspects that a rogue element of the police force has found a way to get rid of local criminals without the tedious business of gathering evidence or attending court by paying a vampire or fiend to murder them.

* Betsy and her friends are attacked by a pack of ungrateful fiends.

There will be a lot of confusing and amusing shenanagans before all this is sorted out ...


Mary Davidson has great fun by mixing up the vampire genre as in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or Laurell Hamilton's "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" series and Chick-Lit romantic comedy as in "Sex and the City." This series is way over the top, fairly sexy, and usually very funny.


An interesting comparison with other authors who have written entertaining comedies by combining incongruous genres would be with Marianne Mancusi and Robert Frezza.

In the same way that this book gets plenty of laughs by combining chick lit with Vampires, Frezza write two very funny books which combined Vampires and Science Fiction ("McLendon's Syndrome" and "The VMR Theory") and Mancusi combined chick lit with time travel in "A Connecticut Fashionista at King Arthur's Court" and "A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest." Anyone who likes this book is likely to enjoy all four of those, and vice versa, if you have read and enjoyed any of those books you will probably like this one.

OK, this is never going to win the Booker Prize or any other great award for classic literature, and it is fairly raunchy, so not suitable for children. However, if you have the right sort of sense of humour, it is good fun. I can recommend "Undead and Unworthy" and also enjoyed reading the rest of the series.

Horror Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in My favorite Vamp books!! and a few others ;-)
Wicked Lovely ImageWicked Lovely
by Melissa Marr
HarperTeen; Published: 2007-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.54
Price in other shops: $16.99
All Together Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 7) ImageAll Together Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 7)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace; Published: 2008-03-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6) ImageDefinitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace; Published: 2007-03-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.33
Price in other shops: $7.99
Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 5) ImageDead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 5)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace Books; Published: 2005-05-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.23
Price in other shops: $22.95
Dead to the World (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 4) ImageDead to the World (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 4)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace; Published: 2005-05-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops: $7.99
From Dead to Worse ImageFrom Dead to Worse
by Charlaine Harris
Recorded Books; Published: 2008-05; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $21.74
Price in other shops: $34.99
Club Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3) ImageClub Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace Books; Published: 2003-04-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.19
Price in other shops: $7.99
Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1) ImageDead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace Books; Published: 2001-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.21
Price in other shops: $7.99
A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) ImageA Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
by Libba Bray
Delacorte Books for Young Readers; Published: 2005-03-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $9.99
Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) ImageRebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
by Libba Bray
Delacorte Books for Young Readers; Published: 2006-12-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.64
Price in other shops: $9.99
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Hotter Than Hell ImageHotter Than Hell
Harper; Published: 2008-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.84
Price in other shops: $7.99
Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Book 1) ImageCry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Book 1)
by Patricia Briggs
Ace; Published: 2008-07-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.76
Price in other shops: $7.99
The Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan, Book 6) ImageThe Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan, Book 6)
by Kim Harrison
Eos; Published: 2008-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.35
Price in other shops: $24.95
Swallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7) ImageSwallowing Darkness (Meredith Gentry, Book 7)
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-11-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $26.00
Playing with Fire (Silver Dragons, Book 1) ImagePlaying with Fire (Silver Dragons, Book 1)
by Katie MacAlister
Signet; Published: 2008-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.26
Price in other shops: $7.99
Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12) ImageAcheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-08-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops: $24.95
Undead and Uneasy (Undead/Queen Betsy) ImageUndead and Uneasy (Undead/ Queen Betsy)
by MaryJanice Davidson
Jove; Published: 2008-03-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.74
Price in other shops: $7.99
Blood Noir (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 16) ImageBlood Noir (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 16)
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley Hardcover; Published: 2008-05-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.69
Price in other shops: $25.95
Dead Over Heels ImageDead Over Heels
by MaryJanice Davidson
Berkley Trade; Published: 2008-03-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: $14.00
From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8) ImageFrom Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8)
by Charlaine Harris
Ace Hardcover; Published: 2008-05-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.55
Price in other shops: $24.95