7
Dec022011
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Shakespeare’s Landlord’ by Charlaine Harris
by Carolyn • Posted in 3.5 Star Reviews, Authors E-H, Book Reviews, Charlaine Harris, Gollancz, Mystery, Reviews by Carolyn
Title: Shakespeare’s Landlord (Lily Bard Mystery #1)
Author: Charlaine Harris
Publisher: Gollancz (UK) | Berkley Prime Crime (US)
Publication Date: 2011 (UK) | 2005 (US)
Format: Paperback, 224 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: Review copy from publisher
Reviewed by Carolyn
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SUMMARY:
Disguising herself with short hair and baggy clothes, Lily Bard has started over in the sleepy town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, where – working as a cleaning lady – she can sweep away the secrets of her dark and violent past…
When Lily discovers the dead body of her nosy landlord, her plan to live a quiet, unobserved life starts to crumble. Lily doesn’t care who did it. But as the unwanted attentions of the police chief and a suspicious community fall on her, she soon realizes if she doesn’t unmask the murderer, her life might do more than crumble… it might end.
REVIEW:
“Shakespeare’s Landlord” is a really good start to what I hope will be a fun, addictive mystery series. It has all the elements to be so, with a great heroine and supporting cast, and a cosy town where they all live weaving in and out of each others lives.
Lily Bard has a dark past that Harris only hints at, by the end of the book I still really didn’t know what had happened to Lily to make her run and set up home in a small town like Shakespeare. But she’s managed to create a little niche for herself by starting a cleaning business and keeping herself to herself. That’s the way she likes it.
But one night, while out for a walk, she discovers a body in the local park. Instead of phoning the police Lily heads back home and calls the police anonymously to let them know. She really didn’t want the police digging around in her past…
From here on things get a little out of control and Lily’s well controlled private life suddenly begins to spiral. She has more conversations with her neighbours in the week surrounding the murder than she has done for the few years she’s been living in the town. Which is saying a lot since she cleans most of their homes!
One of Lily’s favourite past times is working out at the gym and her martial arts class, which she never misses. But as her organised life slips so does her relationships with the men around her, including her instructor. There are two main love interests and I have my heart set on one rather than the other, so I’m really eager to know where Harris takes me in the subsequent books.
As always, Harris’s writing is vivid but also easy going. I really love her writing style. One of the most fun aspects to “Shakespeare’s Landlord” is that it had me guessing until the very end, which is a very good thing for a mystery and something which doesn’t happen for me very often. As with most first books in a series it took me a little time to get into the story, but when I did I had great time visiting Shakespeare town.
VERDICT:
“Shakespeare’s Landlord” is a fun cosy mystery. Harris weaves her writerly magic once again and has captured my imagination. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, ‘Shakespeare’s Champion‘.
RATING: 7/10
Charlaine Harris Online
Website | Facebook | Goodreads
Books in Series Order:
1. Shakespeare’s Landlord
2. Shakespeare’s Champion
3. Shakespeare’s Christmas
4. Shakespeare’s Trollop
5. Shakespeare’s Councelor
This book counts towards the following BCC Reading Challenges:
7 Comments
this one sounds like fun. I'd love to read this one…thanks for the recommendation.
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I started reading this series with book two (don't ask me why I didn't start with the first one, these things just happen *lol*) and I loved it so much I bought the whole series in a huge Omnibus edition.
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I'm so glad you liked this book as I loved the series. It's been a while since I read them, you do find out what happened to Lily, I just cannot remember which book it's in.
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I want to read this one! I really enjoyed the early Sookie books and I like cosy mystery elements…I've asked Santa to get me the set for christmas!
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The titles of the books have me a little curious. I might have to give it a go…
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Serena – You're welcome! It's a fun start to the series
Brigit – I hope you like the first one too, I'm really looking forward to reading book #2
Laura – Oh good, I'm really intrigued about Lily…
Mel – I'm up to book 6 with the Sookie series and I'm enjoying the series a lot. Looking forward to continuing this series too
Magaly Guerrero – I agree, the titles are intriguing, I would definitely recommend this book, I hope the series lives up to it and is really good
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I really need to pick up Harris' other series! So far, I'm a fan of the Southern Vampires. I know what you mean about her writing style.- it just easily pulls you in.
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