Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row

This article is about the novel. For the comic collection, see Spike & Dru

Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row is an original novel written by extensive Buffyverse author Christopher Golden.

Summary

It's 1940 and for Drusilla's vampiric birthday, Spike decides he will acquire Freyja's Strand for her. The strand, a necklace, has the ability to allow Drusilla to view her reflection. After a dangerous trek, Spike and Drusilla strike a deal with the ice demon Skrymir: should Spike and Drusilla destroy all the current Slayers-in-waiting as well as the current Slayer, he will fork over the necklace. Up to the challenge, Spike and Drusilla acquire a list of the slayer-in-waiting from the Watcher's Council in London and ravage the Earth, killing girls hideously as they go.

Meanwhile the current Slayer, Sophie Carstensen, is alerted to the situation and sent off with her Watcher, Yanna, to rescue the remaining Slayers-in-waiting. Unfortunately, Yanna has developed an unhealthy obsession with Spike and cannot fight against him when there is a run in between the two groups. But Sophie rescues a decent number of the girls and has them brought to the Council headquarters. Sophie leaves to retrieve the last girl and runs into Spike and Drusilla in Denmark who capture her Watcher.

While Sophie hunts down the duo, Skrymir has grown impatient and manifests himself inside the Council headquarters where he wreaks havoc on the inhabitants.

The Council must find a way to stop Skrymir from killing all the Slayer-in-waiting (which would end the line of Slayers) while the Slayer herself tries to track down her Watcher who may already be dead.

Behind the Scenes

• The plotline about removing Slayers-in-Waiting foreshadows the "potentials" used throughout Buffy Season 7.
• Voodoo Lounge, found in Tales of the Slayer Volume III, is a companion to this story.

Continuity issues

Most of the events of the novel do not violate established canon. However, Sophie's death at Spike's teeth contradicts the official canon established by the episode Fool for Love, which reveals that the second Slayer killed by Spike was Nikki Wood. Christopher Golden has revealed he ignored the existance of Nikki Wood when writing the novel.