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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a "dark horse" of a book. It starts out as a rather ordinary story about "small town" people that becomes shockingly chilling and ultimately kind of terrifying.
Aurora Teagarden is a librarian in Lawrencetown, Georgia. She is also a member of the "Real Murders Society", a group of local folks who get together to discuss and dissect old murder cases.
On the night of a meeting when Aurora is to present a murder she's selected, someone decides to re-create that exact case, murdering another member of the Society in the VFW Hall where the meeting was about to begin!
As the bodies begin to pile up, all staged to recreate old murders using townspeople - and the particular old murders selected as the models, like the Lizzie Borden case for one, are especially bloody, vicious cases - Aurora realizes that the killer has to be a member of the club. But which one?!
The thing that makes this story so shocking is the fact that all the characters in the story are - or seem to be - your typical, ordinary small town folk. So the idea that one of them is a stone-cold, vicious killer is hard to fathom. It's that old: "He was so quiet, and seemed like such a nice man!" thing that people say when they discover that "nice young man" who lived next door turned out to be Jeffrey Dahmer.
The way the suspense builds is good. Everything seems utterly normal at first and in the beginning I was thinking the book was a bit boring. But then things start to change, and by the end you are racing through the pages to see how it all comes out, because the climax is worth the trip [which is all I'll say to avoid spoilers].
The book is short at only 175 pages, and a fast, easy read, but it is a surprisingly clever and unique story and if you are a murder mystery afficianado, you may enjoy this - I certainly did!
Aurora Teagarden is a librarian in Lawrencetown, Georgia. She is also a member of the "Real Murders Society", a group of local folks who get together to discuss and dissect old murder cases.
On the night of a meeting when Aurora is to present a murder she's selected, someone decides to re-create that exact case, murdering another member of the Society in the VFW Hall where the meeting was about to begin!
As the bodies begin to pile up, all staged to recreate old murders using townspeople - and the particular old murders selected as the models, like the Lizzie Borden case for one, are especially bloody, vicious cases - Aurora realizes that the killer has to be a member of the club. But which one?!
The thing that makes this story so shocking is the fact that all the characters in the story are - or seem to be - your typical, ordinary small town folk. So the idea that one of them is a stone-cold, vicious killer is hard to fathom. It's that old: "He was so quiet, and seemed like such a nice man!" thing that people say when they discover that "nice young man" who lived next door turned out to be Jeffrey Dahmer.
The way the suspense builds is good. Everything seems utterly normal at first and in the beginning I was thinking the book was a bit boring. But then things start to change, and by the end you are racing through the pages to see how it all comes out, because the climax is worth the trip [which is all I'll say to avoid spoilers].
The book is short at only 175 pages, and a fast, easy read, but it is a surprisingly clever and unique story and if you are a murder mystery afficianado, you may enjoy this - I certainly did!
I've enjoyed other series by this author (Sookie Stackhouse, Lily Bard, Harper Connelly, Midnight Texas), but this one fell flat for me.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book could have been a parody if Charlaine Harris had leaned more into the absurd. Aurora Teagarden is hard to like and I found myself laughing at her more than I was laughing with her. Definitely some summer easy reading fodder, though I can't say if I found it enjoyable.
I love Charlaine Harris so I thought I would try another one of her books. So I read Real Murders. The first Aurora Teagarden book. This is a mystery book. It started slow, but about halfway it started to pick up and became a good read. I am hoping that the rest start moving sooner then this one did. It seems to be a trend to have two love interests and this novel is no exception. This book gave alot of background information and I am hoping the rest do not. I liked the book and will read the 2nd one for sure.
3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun story. I don’t usually read cozy mysteries, so I appreciated this palette cleanser. I enjoyed it and am curious to read the next book (especially because I want to know who she ends up with, which of course is right up my alley!).
Quick, jaunty little read. I was totally wrong in my prediction of whodunnit!
i'm not sure who's classifying this as a cozy mystery, but it definitely isn't. it's also extremely boring for how gruesome it is. i'm not sure it's a product of its time or what, but this was just sexist and bad.
A nice quick cozy mystery read. I really liked the setting and a librarian as protagonist. She's supposed to be petite that some man mistook her at being a 12-yo from behind and she's described herself as being rather plain. But then, she suddenly had 2, Two, love interests? And um, why is she setting up dates with both and kissing them (at different times, without knowledge from the other)? This struck me as rather incongruous. The mystery itself was actually interesting but the real criminals... I'm not at all convinced! Overall, a rather lacklustre mystery novel. I may just give the next book a go just to see if it gets any better.