Rating: 
Summary: Compelling Introduction to a Fascinating Heroine [SPOILERS]
Review: I've enjoyed Ms. Harris's works for years, well before this series began, and when I ran across it, I was thrilled.My first reading, however, proved disappointing. I was used to the lighter, humorous tone of the Aurora Teagarden series and was a bit unprepared for the darker Lily Bard. And then, I loosened up and let myself go with it, and I'm all the better for it. I have encountered few characters as well drawn as Lily Bard. She is an incredibly complex character, yet painted so deftly that the reader gets a full sense of her person. While it is much easier to accomplish this feat with the first-person, as is used here, Ms. Harris allows us to learn about Lily primarily through her actions and interactions with others. The plot itself is not out of the ordinary--someone's dead, Lily is suspected, she must find the real killer before the cops close in on her, but it's the main character that makes this novel stand out. Why, oh why hasn't someone bought the movie rights to this series?!?
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Introduction to a Fascinating Heroine [SPOILERS]
Review: I've enjoyed Ms. Harris's works for years, well before this series began, and when I ran across it, I was thrilled. My first reading, however, proved disappointing. I was used to the lighter, humorous tone of the Aurora Teagarden series and was a bit unprepared for the darker Lily Bard. And then, I loosened up and let myself go with it, and I'm all the better for it. I have encountered few characters as well drawn as Lily Bard. She is an incredibly complex character, yet painted so deftly that the reader gets a full sense of her person. While it is much easier to accomplish this feat with the first-person, as is used here, Ms. Harris allows us to learn about Lily primarily through her actions and interactions with others. The plot itself is not out of the ordinary--someone's dead, Lily is suspected, she must find the real killer before the cops close in on her, but it's the main character that makes this novel stand out. Why, oh why hasn't someone bought the movie rights to this series?!?
Rating:
Summary: This is the series I recommend to my library mystery patrons
Review: Lilly Bard is one of the best women detectives out there. Better series than Aurora Teagarden. The character and the plot are much darker than previous books. Author tackles issues of violence and rape which are reoccuring themes - see A Secret Rage.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Beginning to a Series
Review: The author was recommended by the same friend who got me started on Laurel K. Hamilton, although she was indicating the vampire series, not the Shakespeare one. However, in reading a bio on the author, I discovered she now lives in my hometown, so figured I'd give her Arkansas based series a try first. The heroine, Lily, shows some signs of potential "Kick Arse Heroine Whom No One Can Defeat" syndrome, which I hope is only my wariness from the hugely disappointing Anita Blake books. However, Lily does frequently fall flat on her face, and perhaps the indications of gathering a harem will be banished in other books. As for the story, it is a nice little murder mystery, if a little too-pat and a bit unsatisfactory on the actual Whodunit. I will try the next to see if she irons out the kinks (one of which is a major geographic goof!).
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing heroine.
Review: This book kept me glued. It wasn't so much the plot but the characters that were utterly believable. I'll certainly be looking for more of Lily Bard.
Rating:
Summary: To See or Not to See...
Review: To Lily Bard, the small, sleepy town of Shakespeare, Arkansas is the perfect place to hide her past. After being brutally gang raped years before, Lily has painstakingly rebuilt her life. She is now must stronger physically and is gaining confidence in her martial arts studies. However, she still disguises her looks and maintains a low profile. After all, housecleaners aren't exactly noticed. But all of that changes when she witnesses a murder... Suddenly she is faced with a difficult choice - to share what she has learned with the police and lose her hard-won anonymity and gain unwanted attention or to pretend that she never saw anything. Then her married karate instructor starts showing a passionate interest in her and her plan of a private, well-ordered life comes unhinged. Meanwhile, the killer of an unlamented landlord is lurking nearby. And while Lily knows the inside dirt on her neighbors' dust, drawers and private lives, she must admit to a secret of her own: that in the shadow of a brutal murder, she is coming alive again... This is a short, well-written mystery that will hook you on the Shakespeare/Lily Bard series written so ably by Charlaine Harris. Lily is a fascinating character as she is so strong/tough and yet has her softer side and her weaknesses. In short, she is human. The way she solves the murder is quite entertaining as she uses her knowledge of cleaning the various locations in Shakespeare to eliminate suspects as she goes along. I found the book to be quite humorous as Lily has a wry, dry sense of humor that is very appealing. I highly recommend this book to mystery buffs and for those who enjoyed any of Mrs. Harris' other books. It is unfortunate that books 2 & 3 in the series are out of print, but if I was able to hunt them down, you can too - its well worth it!
Rating:
Summary: To See or Not to See...
Review: To Lily Bard, the small, sleepy town of Shakespeare, Arkansas is the perfect place to hide her past. After being brutally gang raped years before, Lily has painstakingly rebuilt her life. She is now must stronger physically and is gaining confidence in her martial arts studies. However, she still disguises her looks and maintains a low profile. After all, housecleaners aren't exactly noticed. But all of that changes when she witnesses a murder... Suddenly she is faced with a difficult choice - to share what she has learned with the police and lose her hard-won anonymity and gain unwanted attention or to pretend that she never saw anything. Then her married karate instructor starts showing a passionate interest in her and her plan of a private, well-ordered life comes unhinged. Meanwhile, the killer of an unlamented landlord is lurking nearby. And while Lily knows the inside dirt on her neighbors' dust, drawers and private lives, she must admit to a secret of her own: that in the shadow of a brutal murder, she is coming alive again... This is a short, well-written mystery that will hook you on the Shakespeare/Lily Bard series written so ably by Charlaine Harris. Lily is a fascinating character as she is so strong/tough and yet has her softer side and her weaknesses. In short, she is human. The way she solves the murder is quite entertaining as she uses her knowledge of cleaning the various locations in Shakespeare to eliminate suspects as she goes along. I found the book to be quite humorous as Lily has a wry, dry sense of humor that is very appealing. I highly recommend this book to mystery buffs and for those who enjoyed any of Mrs. Harris' other books. It is unfortunate that books 2 & 3 in the series are out of print, but if I was able to hunt them down, you can too - its well worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting start to the series.
Review: Usually the mystery genre isn't really my thing but this book is an exception. The mystery itself wasn't really anything special but the heroine is the most interesting character I've come across in a long time. I can't really say anything more about her without giving too much away. Fans of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series should give this series a try.
Rating:
Summary: Happy discovery of a Harris series
Review: What an auspicious beginning to a series I have recently discovered---one can only look forward to more. I have read and enjoyed all the Southern Vampire series with Sookie Stackhouse and was curious to see what Harris would do in the cozy mystery genre. I'm pleased to say that she has done quiet well.
In Lily Bard, we have an intelligent, tough woman who has survived a horror which altered her life so completely that she had to leave her less than sympathetic family in Memphis TN to put down roots in a small town where she is not known. It is no wonder that she prefers anonymity and has chosen employment that is low profile ---a house cleaner. There is a closed grimness to Lily, but to give her credit, she has taken control of her life and learned how to protect herself, evolving into a capable, realistic, no-nonsense survivor. With all due credit to a former reviewer, Lily, though damaged, rises from the ashes to create a new, safer life for herself. Mercifully, the novel is not about the horror, though it lurks ever-present. Instead, Harris has given us a character with potential to open up more to the world, rather than perpetually hiding away.
It is clever of Harris to tell her story---Lily's story---the way she does by introducing Lily's fears and the reason for them gradually. The hallmark of a good cozy mystery, as far as I am concerned, is giving the reader clues and information as the main character discovers them. The mystery works for me if I find that I don't want or try to guess who-done-it, but let the mystery unfold, which is why SHAKESPEARE'S LANDLORD works well for me. Too, the very occasional, minimal reference to Shakespeare's work itself pleases me greatly, as do the thinly veiled references to my own home town.
I have ordered the next two books in the series and look forward to becoming better acquainted with Lily Bard and seeing how her new life treats her.
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