It pains me to say it, but this book was a complete disappointment. I love Mary Janice Davidson...not only her previous Betsy books, but the Fred the Mermaid series, the Wyndhams, and Jennifer Scales have all been fun, quirky and entertaining. Definitely each book has been good for a laugh or two. The previous story "Dead and Uneasy" was probably the first big realization that this series was going down hill...but I was hoping for a positive change with the new covers and the promise of a new story arc. Now I wonder if MJD is bored with Betsy...surely its a money maker for her but it just doesn't seem as if it has the same heart that was at the center of many of the previous books. The entire plot of this one focuses on the Fiends who were left behind in a previous book. Now they are coming into awareness and have been fed Garrett's blood (and he was fed blood from both the Queen and her half sister the devil's daughter). They are determined to make Betsy pay for abandoning them, which she kinda did, by accident. The story was weak, the plot was weak, characters I enjoyed once were annoying. Betsy wasn't funny or charming. Parts of the story were completely a mess and I would have to go back and reread a passage to understand what had happened. These books have always been narrative-driven and completely the opposite of a deep read, so the confusion was beyond explanation. There were deaths of some regular characters and I should have been shocked and heartbroken, but since the other characters didn't seem to be, why should I? I think its time for the author to take a step back and acknowledge that its time to wrap up the series. She ended Fred the Mermaid while it still had a lot of potential, while the books were still fun and strong. I was sad, but I thought it was a responsible decision. Go out on top. Muster up a good, strong finale for Betsy and put this one at rest. Then we can all look forward to something from MJD that still has her heart in it. ( )

I have read the books from the start. They were funny, original, a send up of the serious vampire stories, and the sex/romance was very light (good thing). I also read the side anthologies. I really enjoyed the first 4-5 books, but then things started downhill.

The first major problem was going into hardcover. These books are even too light for PB. They are not worth the price of $7.99 ! There is very little in terms of plot, description, or character development. I could live with all that because of the warm humor, and the quirky look at vampires. But hardcover, over $20.00 no way. Then they obviously didn't do so well because instead of a year between HC and PB it went into 16 months and more. Then the greedy publishers started splitting the books in half. Its the newest way to raise the prices on hardcovers when people won't pay over a certain amount. But even as a whole story they are too light, as half a story there is nothing there at all.

Literally nothing much happens. They don't have jobs or real lives, so they hang around the mansion and argue, or they get in the car and argue, or they go to Nostro's or the night club and .... argue. Its not fun anymore, it predictable. Like those horrible reality shows where people put their worst face forward. Why would you want to spend time and money for them ?

There is nothing new that happens in their lives and its boring. They interact with the same people, and they all react the same.

In this outing the author says something about a new direction, and then KILLS off 2 of the regular cast. I think it sucks and I may be done with the whole thing. And oh yeah, the 'mystery' or problem is so anemic it doesn't even register or make any sense. Its like MJD had no idea for a story so they changed to bad artwork, and then added some shocking cast changes and pretended it was an actual story. ( )

I've read the reviews before and found this book disappointed most of the readers. I, however, wasn't really disappointed. I don't take the Queen Betsy stories seriously because I'm in it for the laughs - and laugh a lot I did. If you're looking for some story with depth and character development, I suggest you pick up another book. I just want to read something mindless sometimes.

While reading the book everything is still pretty much the same; Nick still hates Betsy, and characters were consistent. The central story was the fiends' attacking Betsy because she got sidetracked with a lot of things and neglected them. They were really annoying and stubborn, I guess there were a lot of distractions to the story like a recap here and there but I really didn't mind.

There's also the side story of Nick enlisting Betsy's aid to find some bad guys, which turns out to be just a ruse. I'm not the type to spoil anything but that was really unexpected. Betsy is trying to adjust controlling her powers and it came at an opportune moment. The ending is a foreshadowing of the next book (Undead and Unwelcome) where Betsy goes to the pack leader Michael Wyndham. ( )

Opening Sentence: ‘…Bored, I crossed the carpet in five steps, climbed up on Sinclair’s desk, and kissed him…’

The 7th book in the series about Queen of the Vampires, Betsy Taylor. Newly married, bad vamps vanquished, life should be good. However two things stand in her way – her dead stepmother, Ant, has arrived to haunt her – and the Fiends have escaped and want to kill her.

The Fiends are vampires who were made by the previous King and left to starve. Sort of like feral animals, when Betsy first became the Vampire Queen she refused to have them killed and left them living on a farm being looked after by another vamp. However, since them Betsy has been caught up in learning to be Queen and consort that she kind of forgot about them and they’re not happy.

As for Ant – the only reason she has returned to haunt Betsy is because Betsy didn’t like her. Not a word of thanks for Betsy becoming the carer of her half-brother.

With all this going on – Nick the detective, who hates Betsy with a passion asks her for help tracking down some killers – which he thinks are fellow police officers.

Three characters are killed off – one at the start and two at the end – which is a bit of a shock. This book is much darker than her previous Betsy books – but there is still plenty of laughs and romance. ( )

MJD points out in her introduction that the new cover of UNDEAD AND UNWORTHY reflects the new direction that this book and the two upcoming ones will follow; a mini-story arc within a story arc. Frankly, I'm not all that thrilled.

Betsy is still Betsy -- still childish, still prone to immaturity, still interested with having sex with her new husband as often as possible, still the new guardian of Baby Jon (although he's conspicuously missing from this installment), still back-and-forth with best friend Jessica, still vampire-non-grata for Detective Nick.

It's all still there, with a bit of humor thrown in, and a new weird sideline into what I guess is the aforementioned "arc."

My biggest complaint with the story was the fact that, although after seven books I realize that MJD never goes into much description for ANYTHING, I was shocked that there was a major (and majorly depressing) conclusion to the book that was summed up in about three pages.

I hate that. Really. I don't expect the author to go into intricate detail (a la Stephen King) of description, dialogue, and backstory (as I said, it's not MJD's trademark), but just a few pages when you've seriously lessened the number of main characters??

Okay, overall, I didn't mind spending 2 1/2 hours reading UNDEAD AND UNWORTHY. And I'll still follow the series, even though it's not as great as it once was (basically, during the first two books). But I'm putting MJD on notice that, really, it's just not right to indiscriminately kill off some of my favorite characters. ( )