corncobwebs 's review for:

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

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This is one of those series that I turn to when I just want to read something fun. There are several series like that for me: the Sookie Stackhouse books (also by Charlaine Harris), the Stephanie Plum books, and the Booktown books. I wouldn't want to read more than one of these books in a row, but they're great for when I'm in the mood for some brain candy. This book is the first installment in the Aurora Teagarden series. I think I've read the second and third books, so it was nice to see where it all began. We meet Aurora (or "Roe"), who is a single, twenty-something small-town librarian. She also has an intense interest in true-life murder cases, and is even part of a club (aptly named "Real Murders") that focuses on studying such cases. Things start getting a little too real, though, when club members start showing up murdered. What's worse, other club members (those who are still among the living) are being framed for the murders. Roe almost becomes a victim when the murderer sends her and her mother a box of poisoned chocolates. Though she doesn't necessarily want to be a sleuth in this situation, her fear inspires her to do whatever she can to catch the criminal. And, of course, she succeeds - apprehending the unlikely murderers in a dramatic basement show-down. (as a side note, the fact that Bankston and Melanie were the murderers totally didn't make sense to me - there wasn't any other motive for them to go on a killing spree, other than pegging them as just plain psychotic. This seems like kind of a cop-out, because they both seemed perfectly normal, and you would expect at least a hint of menace in that kind of character.) ANYWAY. I still got plenty of enjoyment out of this book - I love the library-related details, and I think Roe is a really likable heroine. Now it's time to read some more literary stuff, but I'm sure I'll return to this series in the future.