A Touch of Dead is a collection of short stories from Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries.

Claude, who dances, tells Sookie that they believe that one of the people murdered their triplet Claudette while she was working at the club earlier that night.

It introduces the topic of Hadley's death, which kicks off the events in the sixth Vampire Mysteries book, Definitely Dead.

In "One Word Answer", the mysterious Mr. Cataliades shows up in a limousine at Sookie's home bringing the news of her cousin Hadley's death.

Insurance agent Greg Aubert asks Sookie (and her witch friend Amelia) to investigate a break-in at his office.

Amelia and Sookie discover that the break-in was just Greg's daughter and her secretive boyfriend, who is actually a newly turned vampire.

However, Sookie learns that two other agents in town have had break-ins, and all are getting excessive amounts of claims which may drive them out of business.

This story does not affect the storylines in the Southern Vampires novels, although in a later book Sookie has a vague memory of these events.

In the woods behind the house, Preston and a Were chat about Niall hiring them to give Sookie a pleasant Christmas Eve, tailoring the scenario to her personality, and using a bit of fairy magic to attract her.