Death note Manga help? [Episodes for each Volume?]

[Kinos]

I am looking to get the books instead of watching it, but I dont want to start with book 1 if I have already seen what there is to see with that one. So, in that case, what books go to what episodes? Example: Volume 1 [Episodes 1-8]
I dont know if thats true, but help please! I cant find the info anywere!

[One Vorlon]

I'm afraid I don't know the exact correspondence (i.e. which episodes each volume of manga corresponds to), but the anime is pretty close to the manga - with one exception. The Near-Mello arc (in the anime) was abbreviated, so the manga includes events not seen in the tv series.

There are also alternate re-tellings (both manga and live action), but that just complicates matters (and aren't really relevant to your question)

[russ869]

IMO you really should start at book 1 anyway. There aren't any important plotlines missing from the TV series, but their are at least several really brilliant details even in the early arcs that aren't discussed in the anime.

If you insist on starting the manga in the middle, you should be able to figure out where you need to start by looking at Wikipedia's volume summaries. Just be careful not to spoil the parts you haven't read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._Note_chapters