I thought this book (#5) was the best of the series! I was all wrong about who the perpetrator was, and I was pleased with the way the mystery was resolved. This one was darker than the previous four books, but it was very much in line with who Lily Bard is. I was glad to see the character address certain issues that seemed so obviously to stalk her from book 1. Would love to have a sixth book in the series to enjoy.

There's something very interesting in the way Charlaine Harris writes her characters. I've read and re-read all her "Shakespeare's ....." books. They are simply an enjoyable read.

Lily Bard is back in her fifth mystery in Shakespeare's Counselor. Lily is a woman with a complicated past, to put it mildly, and is determined to overcome her problems on her own. However, when she awakens in the middle of the night and finds that she is trying to strangle her lover, Jack Leeds, she decides that he may have a point when he suggests that she needs some outside assistance. As coincidence has it, Jack discovers a flier outside of the store that announces a rape-counseling group for women right in little-ole Shakespeare. Lily is less than enthusiastic about sharing details of the experience that shattered her life, but promises Jack that she will give it a try. As it turns out, Lily discovers that she is getting more problems instead of help when she goes to her group meeting and finds a woman dead, killed in a bone-chilling fashion and deliberately left on display with a twisted message. It appears that Shakespeare's counselor, Tamsin Lynd, has more than few secrets of her own. But who could be so obsessed with Tamsin that they follow her from town to town, making threatening phone calls, leaving messages and dead animals on her porch and now killing for her?

This 5th book in the Lily Bard mystery series was absolutely riveting. Lily came a long way in book #4, but she really seems to be coming into her own in this book. She and Jack, her boyfriend, are still a hot item, but their relationship is still undefined. Charlaine Harris introduces some more characters who reside in Shakespeare that are absolutely hilarious and are well-worth getting to know. I can hardly wait for the next book in the series to come out! Charlaine Harris has created one of my absolute favorite mystery series in the Shakespeare/Lily Bard tales. Highly recommended for anyone and everyone!

This second book in the Lily Bard/Shakespeare series was nicely written and entertaining. Ms. Harris did a terrific job weaving the plot and introducing Jack Leeds. This story brings together the rather sick thoughts hidden behind the gentile Southern manner of a few of the Shakespeare mighty. My my, what you don't know.

I enjoyed this second installment of the Shakespeare series. Lily Bard and the other residents of Shakespeare are interesting and well developed. Lily continues to try to find a normal life while tripping over her past and dead bodies. Jack is a welcome addition to the people who change and interact with each other while death and mayhem stroll through the streets of this small town. Lily's occupation as a house cleaner gives her an inside look at the way people really live and makes her a part of their lives, whether she wants to be or not. In this story, racial hatred allows vicious men to give a reason for their hatred. Lily and Jack must fight for their lives against a family hiding a secret. Throughly entertaining.

When housecleaner Lily Bard discovers a body in her gym, Body Time, she sees a connection to earlier murders that have taken place in her adopted town, Shakespeare, Arkansas. Lily Bard moved to Shakespeare several years before to restart her life after a personal tragedy received national media attention, but her life since then has been anything but quiet. After stopping an interracial fight at a local drive-in Lily becomes the focus of unwanted attention by some of the town residents. She decides not to move, but instead to stay and try to solve the murders that have made living in Shakespeare difficult for many of its citizens.
Charlaine Harris has a more complex plot structure in "Shakespeare's Champion". Events go back and forth in time and details are revealed from Lily's former life. And Lily really develops as a character in this book: when big things go down in Shakespeare Lily is forced to make crucial decisions that show what she's made of. This is also the book where she meets Jack Leeds. ; )
This is my favorite Lily Bard installment yet. Charlaine Harris uses an economy of words that makes every narrative detail important. I love the names she chooses for characters and businesses, but for all those whimsical details her stories are streamlined and focused.
If you've started the Lily Bard series that begins with "Shakespeare's Landlord", be sure to read "Shakespeare's Champion". Harris' other series are also a lot of fun.
And if you like Harris' writing be sure to try Elizabeth Peters' and Laurie R. King's mystery series.

This series is well worth the time, money, and wait(for each new mystery). A strong female main character with a very well developed story. A good read.

This book did a very good job bringing up some very interesting questions about what stereotypes we assign to loose women and the fates that await them. The character murdered in this book (4th in the series) has been briefly discussed and analyzed in prior books. It was very interesting to see how and why she was murdered - and the reaction people had to it.

For someone who doesn't like to get involved in other people's affairs, Lily Bard seems to have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In book #4 of Charlaine Harris' superb Lily Bard mystery series, Lily discovers lifelong Shakespeare resident Deedra Dean murdered inside a car parked in a woodsy area outside of town. Lily quickly becomes a suspect when it is discovered that Deedra died of a severe blow to the chest - a blow that could only have been delivered by a martial arts expert. The sheriff becomes even more suspicious regarding her involvement when Deedra's mother asks Lily to help her clean Deedra's apartment, but Lily is determined not to get involved this time and fully intends to leave the case in Sheriff Marta Schuster's capable hands. However, Deedra's notoriously promiscuous lifestyle provides an extensive list of suspects, but very few clues. Much as Lily disliked Deedra in life, she feels that she has no choice but to resume the role of amateur detective and join the investigation.

Once again, a fabulous book from the superb author, Charlaine Harris. With every book Lily Bard and the other characters who reside in Shakespeare become more fleshed out and more entertaining. Lily is really starting to develop into a real person again after being violently assaulted years before and it is fun to see her change. I thought that the mystery plot this time was wonderful and had a nice little surprise twist at the end. For anyone who enjoys mysteries, I cannot recommend this series enough!

In the previous novel 'Dead Until Dark', ordinary waitress/telepath Sookie Stackhouse met and became involved with a local vampire, Bill Compton. Sookie became endebted to Bill's vampire associates and has now been hired out by them to a Dallas vampire coven to help them find a missing vamp. Bill travels with her as her protector and entree to their world.
I really enjoyed reading 'Living Dead in Dallas'. It is a solid continuation of the series. Sookie Stackhouse's character had some interesting nuances emerge.
There were a few disappointments. The vampire world, having been in existence for centuries, comes across as having an amateurish organization. I was also surprised to see the lack of a resolution to Sookie's dealings with the bellhop, Barry.

This series will draw inevitable comparisons with Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Almost without exception, Hamilton's Anita Blake novels are faster-paced and more dimensional. However, these two Sookie books are charming, funny, and notably down-to-earth. The writing style is the most remarkable aspect of this series and makes it hard to put each book down. Thoroughly enjoyed this installment.

Charlaine Harris has started the Southern Vampire Series - featuring Sookie Stackhouse, a quite human waitress with the 'disability' of having telepathy - The Vampire of her dreams - Bill - everything she could ask for - but he's dead, but hey, nobody's perfect, and an assorted group of supernatural folk they associate with.
There are some subtle additions in this series, like transporting Bill's coffin and baggage via Anubis Air - what a hoot - hotels that cater to vampires and their kith and kin -
as well as a hate group directed toward the newly recognised vampires -
Sookie and Bill are asked to go to Dallas to see about a missing vampire and the New Orleans head vampire, the sexy Eric, makes a disguised appearance in Dallas -
The only other vampire series I have read is Linda Lael Miller's series about Valerian (any more coming on that series??), but these books are light, and full of adventures and creatures that literally go bump in the night!
My only disappointment in the sequel is 'Bubba' did not put an appearance - hope that is rectified in future sequels - What a riot of a theory of who 'Bubba' really is!!! Love it!
These are not Anne Rice - but she is not for everyone including me - would rather have Ms. Harris' inventive writing anytime!

"Living Dead in Dallas" by Charlaine Harris is the second instalment in the series that started with the superb "Dead Until Dark", and I honestly don't know which one I liked better, they are both just SO fantastic! Sookie and Bill are both wonderfully quirky and lovable characters who I just can't get enough of. The only bad thing about this book was that it had to end, and now I have to wait what seems like FOREVER for the next in the series!

"Living Dead in Dallas" starts with Sookie Stackhouse, feisty telepathic waitress and girlfriend to sexy Bill the vampire, on a string of bad luck. First a friend and co-worker is murdered and then Sookie receives a painful and poisonous lashing from a beastly maenad as a message for Eric, the area's head vampire. Bill gets the injured Sookie to Eric's club in Shreveport, where he and some of his vampire friends work together to remove the poison from her body. But the thing is, Eric saved Sookie's life, so when he asks her to go to Dallas to help find a missing vampire, Sookie agrees.

So, Sookie and Bill head off to Dallas where they meet with the head vampire, Stan, whose "brother" Farrell has been missing for several days. After an attempted abduction on Sookie and a few other clues that Sookie picks out of the minds of others, it becomes apparent that the "Fellowship of the Sun", a vampire hate group, is responsible for taking Farrell. But when Sookie tries to go undercover at the "Fellowship of the Sun" to find Farrell, things go terribly wrong, and she suddenly finds herself scheduled for sacrifice!

After a fabulously thrilling, dangerous, and exciting adventure in Dallas, Sookie returns home to Bon Temps, where the murder of her co-worker is still a mystery. Determined to find the truth, Sookie takes matters into her own hands, and the suspense once again builds to a fever pitch and leads to a satisfying conclusion.

And amidst all the fast-paced action and the thrilling adventures, is the ever-present romance between Sookie and Bill, which is, in my opinion, one of the sweetest, sexiest, most honest, and heart-warming romances I have ever encountered. Sookie and Bill are an unforgettable pair, and I look forward to watching their love grow and evolve through many, many more books!

So, if you are looking for a book that has it all - humour, adventure, suspense, horror, and romance (among other things) you just can't miss with "Living Dead in Dallas". Harris' storylines are fresh, fun and fascinating, so buy both books in this amazing and inspired new series TODAY. I guarantee you will fall in love with Sookie and Bill just like I did, and become so wrapped up in their adventures that you'll have to read each book in one sitting. So do NOT miss out, "Living Dead in Dallas" comes very, very highly recommended!

I liked this series at first because it was so different from the Anita Blake novels (which I also like). But now Sookie is getting men out the ears when before Bill she had none. She's also getting to be a different kind of tough. My other quibble is that the plot seemed a bit rushed. I kept waiting for the story to get going, but it all seemed cobbled together - it never quite jelled. It wasn't bad, just not as good as 1 and 2. Here's hoping number 4 is a little better.

I've read all three books in this series and I loved the first two. This one was okay and it was interesting to see some of the other characters like Eric and "Bubba" get into the spotlight more. I think the reason I gave this book four stars instead of five has to do with Bill's betrayal. Its so sudden and there's no explanation for it except maybe because the other vamp had some power over him. What happened to his desire to mainstream? To me, Bill was just not acting much like Bill for most of this story. I hope the author chooses to deal with this in the next book and I was greatly encouraged by the ending.

The enjoyment factor on the Southern Vampire series is high. The consistency level on this particular novel is remarkably low.

The authoress, in her previous two novels, introduces characters that (I assume) are important to the progress of Sookie's life. In Club Dead, many of them are insignificant. Take Sam (my favourite Collie), for example- she spends two novels creating a grand tension between he and Sookie and then completely NEGATES his value in novel three. He makes more of a cameo appearance than anything else. Furthermore, we're introduced to Alcede (another lycanthrope), who acts as a sort of "red herring" in the romantic sense. We've still got Eric ( an old, lusty vampire) hot for Sookie's pants AND Bill to account for, not to mention the almost non-existent Sam. The threads begin to unravel at the onset of so many viable guys.

Which brings me around to another fine topic; what of Bill? Bill, Sookie's boyfriend and cheating, devious vampire lover (I've never liked Bill). He runs off to complete a secret mission (which is another definite lack of cohesion) and then-BAM-he falls back in love with an old flame-Lorena the Vampire. This is the second of a major incoherence-We're told NOTHING of Bill and Lorena's past. Since we aren't given an opportunity to understand the ties that bind them to one another, we're left in the dark about events that precipitate the motion of the plot. We only see Lorena, very briefly, when she and Sookie have an "encounter". So, to the reader, it seems as if Bill has simply run off (with no depth of complexity or reasoning) with some other chick. It's another loose thread that, sadly, accounts for many character motivations.

I can only hope Harris wraps Sookie's life a little tighter to home with the next novel. The charm is in the South, with familiar peoples, whom we've grown to know by now, and a tighter plot line. I'd love to see her easy, sweet style find its roots again.

Aurora Teagarden's fiance, Martin Bartell, gives her the deed to the Julius House as a wedding gift. The house has a dark history. Some six years before an entire family named Julius had disappeared from the residence leaving all of their belongings. Despite a careful investigation into their disppearance by the authorities no trace was ever found. Aurora decides that she is going to find the Julius family.

On the personal side, though, she is also finding out some things about her future husband that make her more than a bit uneasy. Then Martin tells her that he a friend from Vietnam who has lost his job in Florida and will be staying in their garage apartment. When she meets the Youngbloods she knows that Martin is not being completely open with her.

There's a satisfactory resolution of the story but as with many literary villains, much of the detail comes out only because the evil person, once immobilized, cannot keep their mouth shut. However, Harris has created a page turner as the focus moves from Aurora's less than idyllic personal life to the puzzle of what happened to the former owners of her home.

Although this book is out of print, it is well worth the time to find it. It was even better than "Three Bedrooms, One Corpse." I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story.

Dead Until Dark is the first of the Southern Vampire series that introduces Sookie Stackhouse, a sexy cocktail waitress from Louisiana. Sookie is rather quiet, shy, and does her best to live with her disability; being able to read people's minds; i.e. a telepath. Early on in the book, a stranger, Bill, shows up and she is intrigued that she cannot read his mind, and for a good reason; Bill is a Vampire.

Vampires now have a certain status in many parts of the world and are free to live and come and go as they please. Japan has even developed a synthetic blood for them to drink and is stocked in many establishments, including the one where Sookie works. Bill and Sookie have a natural attraction to one another and a romance begins to emerge. At first glance this may sound somewhat corny but that is not the case at all. It is a highly imaginative story with a very nice blend of action, mystery, comedy, and romance. Sookie and Bill are both very likable, as are many of the other main characters in the novel. Charlaine Harris does a great job at developing their backgrounds and the result is a solid foundation on which to base future stories. This book is clever, imaginative, and by all means, fun.

This is a cute little story, albeit one with an edge. I adored it, and thought the love scenes were among the sweetest and sexiest that I have ever read. It grabbed my attention because while the premise is not necessarily an original one, the way it's written is fresh and different. Sookie is a blond waitress who lives in rural Louisiana, is embarrassed about being able to read minds, and falls in love with a vampire named Bill. Bill is trying to live as a normal person, and even goes so far as to give a talk about being a soldier in the Civil War to Sookie's grandmother's chapter of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead. (I think that's what it was called - don't have my copy handy.) Many others have provided summaries of the plot, so I won't go further, except to say I truly enjoyed this story.

OK, a lot of people compare the Sookie Stackhouse series to the Anita Blake series. Yes, it is similar, and I suppose that people who like Anita Blake may like Sookie Stackhouse too. But Anita is violent, soulless, repetitive (please no more descriptions of the same old guns and clothes), filled with typos (don't Laurell Hamilton's editors ever check for misspellings, confusing "lie" and "laid" with "lay", etc?), and stubborn in a bad way (back and forth arguments between Anita and whoever she's currently fighting with can go on for pages until the other party finally gives up in exhaustion). It's also ultimately silly as the books are simply an excuse for the author to write about her fantasies of lying (not "laying") in a puppy pile of naked men with great abs and waist-length hair. In comparison, Sookie is sweet, good-natured and actually true to her ideals--someone you can actually like as a person.

Sookie Stackhouse lives in a world like ours - except for one difference, 4 years ago Vampires "came out of the coffin" and are now a legal part of USA society. In this way it's somewhat like the situation in the Anita Blake (author Laurel Hamilton) novels, but in someways I think better written in this book.

Sookie herself is unusual with a disability that makes dating a virtual impossiblity until a vampire comes to town and she discovers he's her (almost) perfect man. Unfortunatley, at the same time people start getting killed, which most of the locals see as an unlikely co-incidence, and in a small town that can almost be deadly itself.

The author has written a very readable book here. I'm not sure if it's the start of a series or not - if it's not - then it's still an enjoyable stand alone novel. Her characters are believable and likeable, and I don't remember any slow patches that make your attention wander. In fact, I read this in a day - the sign of a very good book for me.

For those people who like fiction that covers, vampires, PSI, alternative realities or mystery fiction, this book pretty well covers all those areas. Enjoy:)

Charlaine Harris is an interesting mystery writer, in part because she is willing to take chances in her books. In Roe's last outing, A Fool and His Honey, an abrupt death near the end of the book brings the reader up short. We are not used to having sympathetic, continuing characters die in mystery fiction.
But, of course, life is like that.

In this outing, the mystery situation is pretty farfetched, but Harris makes it enjoyable, by bringing us along as Roe Teagarden re-enters her life following the death of her beloved husband.

A fast, fun read, but not the best of the series. Still--worth your time.

The Aurora Teagarden series keeps getting better with each installment. Charlaine Harris seems to keep her characters fresh and exciting. They are believable people who might live in your neighborhood. The problems are real, the emotions human. Life is lived between books so there is always something to catch up on. Roe, her coworkers, and friends seem to be real, breathing people who solve their problems in real ways. The storyline is just as important as the characters, and this story will not disappoint. It allows the reader to learn about some new area of interest while enjoying a series that keeps the reader coming back for more. If only the author could write faster...

This is a great addition to the aurora teagarden series!
After the somewhat depressing A Fool and his Honey, Aurora
is back and better than ever!
Roe has spent the last year in a daze after being widowed.
But now she finds out a company is making a movie based on the
first set of murders she was involved with so long ago.(Real
Murders, 1990)Along with the production company, her old almost-
flame, Robin Crusoe returns. He is the author of the book their
movie is based on.
The chemistry between Roe and Robin is fabulously written. I
found myself easily adapting to the idea of Robin, and Harris does a great job of showing Roe's turmoil about this new relationship and her feelings for her deceased husband.
The plot is enjoyable, blending many of the previous secondary
characters readers have been fond of. The Murder itself is not
as all inclusive as some of the others in the series, but Harris does a great job of drawing the readers back into the series after the depressing A Fool and his Honey.
I strongly recommend reading this book, but I suggest that if you are new to the series you begin back at Real Murders and work your way into this book. Either way is enjoyable, but you will really appreciate the characters more if you have followed them in the series.

In the fourth book of this series, Roe Teagarden marries her handsome businessman boyfriend, Martin Bartell. He buys her a house she has admired which once housed a family who mysteriously disappeared. During the course of the story, Roe discovers the mystery of the Julius family as well as some rather unsavory things about her husband. This book is not as fun as the earlier books of the series and her marriage seems contrived as Martin and Roe seem to have little in common other than a physical attraction.

The Julius House is the fourth book in the Aurora Teagarden series. Aurora "Roe" has finally recovered from her injuries incurred at the end of the last book and is happily engaged to Martin Bartell, her handsome, older, richer boyfriend. For her wedding gift, Martin buys her the Julius house, the perfect house for her. Many people think she is crazy for living there due to the sudden disappearance of the Julius family who used to live there. Roe doesn't worry about it in the slightest and concentrates on glorying in her happily engaged status. She loves being the bride instead of the bridesmaid and pushes any doubts about her soon-to-be-husband aside. When they return from their perfect honeymoon in England, Roe settles in to redecorate and get settled. She is surprised when Martin informs her that two of his friends are down on their luck and that they will be moving into the apartment over the garage. Still, Roe is in love and excited to meet some of Martin's friends and does her best to welcome them. She soon discovers, however, that they are really there to guard her. When pressured, Martin confesses that he is a gunrunner in South America and that he is always worried about retaliation. To take her mind off of this confession, Roe decides that she is going to find out what happened to the Julius family and drags her bodyguard along for the ride. She soon discovers that sometimes it is better to let secrets remain buried...

I admit that the whole Roe/Martin wedding was a little contrived, but Roe really has wanted to get married all of her life and is extremely flattered that such an attractive, wealthy gentleman would be in love with her. It was fun to see Roe's thought processes as she dealt with extreme changes and challenges in her new life. I quite enjoyed the whole Julius family subplot and, though the ending was a little bit too shocking, Roe's whole investigation was quite logical and shows how one determined person can often put clues together that other people missed. As with the her other books, Charlaine Harris offers the reader a host of interesting supporting characters, many amusing details about the mystery and a fun, fast read for those who enjoy this type of genre. I feel that Harris' other mystery series starring Lily Bard (Shakespeare set) is stronger and her Dead Until Dark series is cleverer, but anything that Harris writes is worth reading!

This book, as well as the others by Miss Harris, proved to be very well written, and wonderful mysteries. I couldn't put it down!

A great book for the beach or vacation, perhaps even for a long soak in the tub. The writing requires no extra brain power and the main character, Roe, is an interesting person. It tickled me the way Roe was such a mystery book fanatic. She seems to have books scatered throughout her house, as well as her purse. Whipping out a paperback even if she was only standing in line at the checkout counter. The story was short, the action moved quickly, but the who-done-it was extremely easy to predict.

In this 3rd. book of the series, Aurora Teagarden has quit her job as a librarian and decides to try her hand at her mother's real estate business. In the very first house she goes to with a client, she discovers a dead body. The deceased is a rival real estate agent who was reputed to have numerous extra-marital affairs. There are many suspects--jealous husband, rival realtors, spurned lovers, but Roe is the one who uses an obscure clue to track down the murderer. Also in this book, she meets and falls in love with Martin Bartell, a wealthy older man who is the manager of a large company. His attraction to Roe seems unlikely, but their relationship proceeds very rapidly, if unbelievably throughout this book.

Aurora Teagarden returns in the 3rd book in the hilarious mystery series. Aurora is a short, respectible, 30-something single female in the small town of Lawrenceton. She used to work at the library until she unexpectedly inherited a fortune from a friend. Now she is footloose and fancy free with no job to tie her down, no boyfriend (due to a recent break up) and no money problems. Too bad that she is bored to death. Aurora decides that she needs something to do, so she starts learning about the real estate business from her mother, the best real estate agent in town. When her mother asks her to go and open up an expensive home so that her wealthy new clients can take a look, Roe is agreeable and cheerfully sets off to show the home to the best of her ability. Within an hour she has decided that the real estate business isn't for her, that the new guy in town, although quite a bit older is really hot and there is definitely some attraction there, and that, no matter how trashy in real life, no one deserves to be murdered and put on display in an empty house for someone to find. When her friend's husband is accused of being the murderer, Roe feels that she has to intervene and find out what really happened. Along the way she has to deal with her completely physical reaction to a gorgeous, wealthy older man, a cantankerous cat, shopping for a new home, and a disgruntled ex-employee of her new boyfriend who has started stalking her. You know, the usual problems...

I thought that Three Bedrooms, One Corpse was quite entertaining and finished it in one sitting. Charlaine Harris is a very talented author and, while there may have been a few small errors (which I didn't notice because I was too caught up in the story), she has a very smooth writing style that allows you to be amused and informed at the same time. The plot moves quickly and there are several subplots that keep the reader involved with the characters. Although I still enjoyed the Lily Bard/Shakespeare series and the Southern Vampire series more, I have grown quite fond of Aurora Teagarden and know that I will pick up anything that Charlaine Harris cares to write. At the cheap price that these books are available for, why not treat yourself?