The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

build. He and his fraternal twin, Dixie, are stationed in the Grainger hospital lobby after Calvin is shot, and they guard him while he recovers at his home in Hotshot. The siblings are hired by Victor Madden to watch over him during the day at his mansion situated between Musgrave and Toniton. (DAAD; mentioned DR)
    Mayhew, Sue: Prior to Rene Lenier’s murders, Sue’s death was the most recent murder in Bon Temps. She was shot by her husband. (Deceased; mentioned DUD)
    McKenna: No last name given. McKenna works part-time as Tara’s assistant at Tara’s Togs. (DTTW, ATD, DR; mentioned DAG, DITF, IIHAH)
    Melanie (vampire): No last name given. Petite Melanie is one of Sophie-Anne’s trusted guards, along with Chester and Rasul. Both she and Chester are casualties of Hurricane Katrina. (DD; dies; mentioned ATD)
    Mendoza, Sister: Deputy Mendoza has been friends with Sam for a long time, and her affection hasn’t wavered. Even though they are off duty, Sister (yes, that’s her name) and her partner, Tony, stand guard at Bernie’s house while the family goes to the rehearsal. (STW)
    Merlotte, Bernadette “Bernie” (pure shifter): The mother of Mindy, Craig, and Sam, Bernie remarries about two years after the death of Sam’s father and keeps her shifter status a secret, making excuses to explain her absence on full-moon nights. As they watch the Great Reveal on television, Bernie finally tells her husband, Don, her secret and shifts in front of him, but Don does not react as she hopes: He shoots her. He is charged and taken into custody, and they divorce while he remains incarcerated awaiting his trial, unable to make bail.
    Bernie is working as a receptionist/secretary at an elementary school when she is shot. They hire a replacement for her while she heals, but she’s not at all certain she’ll still have a job when the new school year starts. Longtime friends become strangers, but she remains determined to see her son Craig safely married even as her town struggles with the presence of shifters in their midst. (STW; mentioned FDTW, DAG, DITF)
    Merlotte, Craig: Craig, Sam’s brother, has plans to get married when the shifters reveal themselves, but his engagement is put on hold while his fiancée’s family adjusts to the fact that his brother and mother are shifters. Like his older brother, Craig proudly served his time in the military and now does tech support for a large accounting firm in Houston after graduating from UT Dallas. (STW; mentioned FDTW, DAG, DITF)
    Merlotte, Deidra Lisle: Pretty Deidra is married to Craig, Sam’s brother. Although her parents are uncertain about the shifters in their new son-in-law’s family, Deidra is not worried about the effects on her future children. She’s currently training to become an EMT but may have to put her career on hold for a bit as she and Craig start their new life together by preparing for the baby that’s already on the way. (STW; mentioned FDTW, DAG, DITF)
    Merlotte, Sam (pure shifter): Sam Merlotte did his duty for his country, serving in the army for four years before buying his bar with money left after the death of his father, a former military man and pure shifter himself, and settling in Bon Temps. A rare pure shifter, Sam can become anything he wants but prefers the form of a collie, and it is in this form that Sookie takes him home from the bar, thinking he is really a dog. Sam fully intends to wake first and leave, but he oversleeps and surprises Sookie in her bed. Sam tells her about himself and also informs her that vampires are really dead.
    When Callisto arrives, he spends time with the maenad, offering his companionship as tribute, and they enjoy their romps in the woods around Bon Temps together.
    Sam watches over Sookie as she goes deeper and deeper into the supernatural world. He’s especially worried about her involvement with vampires. Although he normally remains neutral in supernatural goings-on, he accompanies Sookie to the parley between Alcide and Furnan and changes into a lion to protect her when they are attacked by Priscilla Hebert and her Weres. He is then drawn into vampire affairs when he is captured by Sigebert, who, seeking revenge on Eric and Felipe, finds them in Merlotte’s parking lot. Freed by Sookie, Sam is saddened by the fact that he was attacked walking the short distance from his bar to his trailer and worries what more will come.
    When the shifters announce the Great Reveal on TV, Sam and Tray Dawson shift