An Anthology of Birthday’s With Bite!

You’re invited to a celebration of vampires by a baker’s dozen of favorite authors. Sink your teeth into thirteen all-new, never-before-published stories, each one a fresh and unique take on the concept of what birthdays mean to the undead.

From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone's favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker's dozen of favorite authors. Each of these thirteen original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.

Title: Many Bloody Returns
Editor: Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner
Start & Finished: 1/19/09- 1/23/09
Published: 2007
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Pages: 355 (total)
Genre: Anthology- Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal

Birthdays, everyone has them… even your favorite fictional characters! For some, birthdays are a time of happiness and celebration; others well… not so much. Mainly mystery authors Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner (with a little paranormal thrown into many of Harris’ most recent works) are the editors of this collection of stories called Many Bloody Returns. In the introduction they explain how and why they chose this particular theme for their first anthology together: “We decided to pick two apparently unrelated concepts- vampires (the dead) and birthdays (celebrations of life) - and see what different ways some very talented writers could combine the two.”

This thoroughly unique and entertaining anthology contains stories by so many wonderful authors. Six of whom I had read before (some novels, some short stories) and six others of whom I expect to be reading more of in the future. There was only one story in the entire collection that I didn’t enjoy which is almost a miracle!

Title: Dracula Night
Author: Charlaine Harris
Pages: 20

In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s “Dracula Night,” Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula’s birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up- and finds Sookie a tasty-looking present.

In the Sookie Stackhouse world created by Charlaine Harris, vampires only have two celebrations a year: Halloween of course, and a birthday, Vlad Tepes III- otherwise known as Dracula. Each year all the vampires get together and hope that the Count will put in an appearance (kind of like in The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown as one of the characters notes). Dracula Night is set between the seventh (All Together Dead) and eighth book (From Dead to Worse) in the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Eric Northman is my favorite vampire in Sookie’s world so it was nice to see him have center-stage even though he spends the entire story in hero-worship mode. Which is very, very odd to Sookie fans who know that “Eric [is] charming and enterprising, and he [takes] good care of his employees; but the first person on Eric’s admiration list was Eric.” I’m not saying that it’s really far outside of his character but it is far outside of the persona that the readers know. I think I agree with Sookie when she said it was endearing but at the same time a little scary. Very good story nonetheless but it makes me wish the next book in the series would hurry up and come out!

Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries:
1. Dead Until Dark (2001)
2. Living Dead in Dallas (2002)
3. Club Dead (2003)
4. Dead to the World (2004)
5. Dead as a Doornail (2005)
6. Definitely Dead (2006)
7. All Together Dead (2007)
8. From Dead to Worse (2008)
9. Dead and Gone (2009)
10. Cruel and Unusual (2009)

Related Posts: Grave Surprise, An Ice Cold Grave, Aurora Teagarden #1-4 & #5-8


Title: The Mournful Cry of Owls
Author: Christopher Golden
Pages: 28

A girl named Donika's sixteenth birthday is approaching and she is beginning to feel stranger and stranger with each day drawing nearer to the big date in Christopher Golden's The Mournful Cry of Owls. Her Albanian mother is starting to act odd as well so her only solace is her music, her boyfriend, and the woods. Golden is a science fiction and dark fantasy author (and co-author) of over nine different series and several novels as well.

You just know that there is going to be some kind of big revelation at the end of the story from the very beginning. How big of a revelation I wasn't quite sure but I thought it was interesting how the author used the Albanian folklore about the shtriga (a type of vampire) in such a modern setting. This was the first time I have ever read anything by Golden but I was intrigued by his use of folklore in the story and it makes me wonder how many of his other stories and novels include Old World myths...

Title: I Was a Teenage Vampire
Author: Bill Crider
Pages: 22

Anthony award-winning mystery author Bill Crider is the next person to contribute a vampire/ birthday story to the anthology. Called I Was a Teenage Vampire, it was obviously inspired by horror films from the 1950’s (I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, etc.). The story is about how Carleton’s sister talks him into asking the unpopular kid at school (Binky) into inviting the vampire he claims to knows to her party.

This was the first story that I didn’t really enjoy. Although it was well-written and was “complete“, I just didn’t really care about any of the characters. The audience knows ahead of time that Carleton will become a vampire and I think that took away from the story too. Also, to be honest, if it weren’t for the occasional curse word, I doubt this would even make it into the young adult genre as it seems to be more suited for ages 9-12.


Title: Twilight
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Pages: 26

In “Twilight,” Cassandra DuCharme, from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill too love as a vampire another year-- but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt.

Werewolves, half-demons, witches, warlocks, and vampires have all made appearances in Canadian author Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld urban fantasy series but some have larger parts than others do. Twilight takes place between the books No Humans Involved and Personal Demon and involves the vampires Cassandra and Aaron.

The second reason why I picked up this anthology was because of Ms. Armstrong's story since I'm a huge fan of her series. The vampires are the minor characters in her books but Aaron's "Rebirth" was the author's first online story so I knew enough about these particular vamps to be interested. Cassandra seemed kind of standoffish and snooty (or “imperious, pigheaded, and cranky”) through the eyes of everyone else so it was definitely interesting to be in her shoes finally but I think I prefer Aaron to her.

Women of the Otherworld Series:
1. Bitten (2001)
2. Stolen (2002)
3. Dime Store Magic (2003)
4. Industrial Magic (2004)
5. Haunted (2005)
6. Broken (2006)
7. No Humans Involved (2007)
8. Personal Demon (2008)
9. Living with the Dead (2008)
10. Frost Bitten (2009)

Related Posts: My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon, Dates from Hell


Title: It’s My Birthday, Too
Author: Jim Butcher
Pages: 45

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in "It's My Birthday, Too," only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love.

Jim Butcher’s Chicago-based wizard Harry Dresden has become quite famous in the urban fantasy genre despite the fact that the TV show based on the series was cancelled after only a season. It’s My Birthday, Too features two different kinds of vampires- those from the Black Court and Harry’s brother Thomas is a White Court vampire. This story takes place between the books White Night and Small Favor.

I've read a few of Jim Butcher's short stories about his wizard Harry but so far I haven't managed to pick up any of the books in this extremely popular series. I was surprised then to discover that I could follow the story easily even though it references people and things that have happened in the novels. I really liked the vampire brother in this story too! The story was funny and very good too, I know I’ve said it before but this time I think I might actually go and get the rest of the books in this series.

Dresden Files Series:
0. Backup (2008)
1. Storm Front (2000)
2. Fool Moon (2000)
3. Grave Peril (2001)
4. Summer Knight (2002)
5. Death Masks (2003)
6. Blood Rites (2004)
7. Dead Beat (2005)
8. Proven Guilty (2006)
9. White Night (2007)
10. Small Favor (2008)
11. Turn Coat (2009)

Related Post: My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon

Title: Grave-Robbed
Author: P.N. Elrod
Pages: 29

National bestselling author P.N. Elrod’s hard-boiled vampire PI Jack Fleming, from The Vampire Files, infiltrates a suspicious séance on the eve of the dearly departed’s birthday in “Grave-Robbed.”

Set in Chicago during 1937, P.N. Elrod’s short story Grave-Robbed takes place between the last published book A Song in the Dark and the one the author is currently writing Dark Road Rising. It stars her main series character Jack Fleming who just happens to be a vampire with some very interesting abilities.

Another urban fantasy detective series that has been on my list of need-to-reads ever since I read Elrod’s short story in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon. From what I’ve read so far by Elrod, it reminds me a bit of Butcher’s series so I guess its only proper that this follows It’s My Birthday, Too! I really like the idea of a vampire PI and Jack has an interesting sense of humor too. This was a very good story, one of the best in the anthology!

Vampire Files Series:
1. Bloodlist (1990)
2. Lifeblood (1990)
3. Bloodcircle (1990)
4. Art in the Blood (1991)
5. Fire in the Blood (1991)
6. Blood on the Water (1992)
7. A Chill in the Blood (1998)
8. The Dark Sleep (1999)
9. Lady Crymsyn (2000)
10. Cold Streets (2003)
11. A Song in the Dark (2005)
12. Dark Road Rising (2009)

Title: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Author: Rachel Caine
Pages: 24

Rachel Caine's young adult series The Morganville Vampires is set in a town run by vampires- not many of them good ones either. In The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, it's Eve Rosser's (a supporting character in the series) eighteenth birthday and she has an important decision to make: will she sign up with a new vampire patron and be Protected from being lunch (like a pet)? Or will she decide to try to go it alone. This story takes place before the first Morganville book Glass Houses.

After much deliberation, I finally read all of Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series and I thoroughly loved each one (although they are a bit too short). Eve is a great character in the series but she’s not the main character so the audience only knows her and her story through the eyes of Claire. I do kind of wish that I could read the whole series over for the first time again- it’s that good! Like with the novels, I wish the story had been a little longer- mainly because I hated leaving Morganville behind.

The Morganville Vampire Series:
1. Glass Houses (2006)
2. Dead Girl's Dance (2007)
3. Midnight Alley (2007)
4. Feast of Fools (2008)
5. Lord of Misrule (2008)
6. Carpe Corpus (2009)
7. Fade Out (2009)

Title: The Witch and the Wicked
Author: Jeanne C. Stein
Pages: 26

Dreaming about owning her own cosmetics line while catering a vampire birthday party, Sophie is a little perturbed when the birthday boy is reduced to ash… but not enough to keep her from using her new ingredient in her face cream! Written by the urban fantasy author Jeanne C. Stein, The Witch and the Wicked is set in her the same world as her Anna Strong Chronicles.

The world that this was set in was interesting but the idea of using vampire ash in a cosmetic cream creeped me out a little. I have never read one of Jeanne C. Stein's stories before but while I disliked the main character in this story (who thankfully isn't part of the main series); I was still a little disappointed in the way it ended because I wanted to know what happened next! I'm intrigued enough to think about trying more books by this author.

Title: Blood Wrapped
Author: Tanya Huff
Pages: 23

Tanya Huff has been writing paranormal novels since the late 1980s but probably her most popular books were those in the Victoria Nelson series written between 1991-1997. Recently her series enjoyed renewed interest thanks to Lifetime adapting them into the short lived series Blood Ties starring Christinia Cox, Kyle Schmid, and Dylan Neal. In Blood Wrapped, Henry needs to find the perfect 40th birthday present for Vicky while solving a child kidnapping case at the same time.

Blood Ties quickly became one of my favorite shows and ever since it was cancelled I’ve vowed to eventually read the books but I have yet to do so. Blood Wrapped was a neat experience for me since I’m missing my favorite characters but it was a little odd because they aren’t quite the same as in the show. There are also a few added characters but I quickly came to like them too and now I can hardly wait to start this series! My only complaint is that if you haven’t read the books, there are some serious spoilers.

Vicky Nelson Blood Series:
1. Blood Price (1991)
2. Blood Trail (1992)
3. Blood Lines (1992)
4. Blood Pact (1993)
5. Blood Debt (1997)

Title: The Wish
Author: Carolyn Haines
Pages: 10

Set in Mobile, Alabama, Carolyn Haine’s addition to the anthology is a story about Death. In The Wish, Sandra sees Death one day when she comes to take Sandra’s twins after a car accident. Despite attempts to join them, Death refuses to take her since it’s “not her time” so on her 43rd birthday she decides to arrange a little surprise when Death comes calling for her.

Probably the saddest and shortest of all the stories, it’s also a little confusing at first. In addition, it’s the only story in Many Bloody Returns that doesn’t feel quite complete (I think it could have benefited from a few more pages at least). Carolyn Haines is the author of many stories set in the Mississippi Delta including her Sarah Booth Delaney series and even though this author lives so close by, I have never had the pleasure of reading anything she had written before. However, very few of her books have paranormal elements in the them.

Title: Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two
Author: Tate Hallaway
Pages: 25

Tate Hallaway’s story Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two besides having a unique name has unique characters too. Garnet Lacey is the main character in the author’s vampire chick-lit series- a girl in love with a vampire named Sebastian. It’s her vampire boyfriend’s thousandth something birthday and she’s determined for him to have a good time despite the fact that he believes his birthday is cursed since he was born on Christmas day. However, when things really do start to go awry and they‘re stranded in a snowstorm, Garnet starts to wonder if there really is something to this curse business…

I loved this story and I can hardly wait to read more by this author. Her characters are both so interesting: a witch who is host to a goddess and a magic-made vampire (he can walk in the sun and has a normal body temperature), how neat is that?! I’m also a little curious to see if she continues to use mythological beings and creatures in her novels. So excited to have discovered this author’s cute and fun series.

Garnet Lacey Series:
1. Tall, Dark and Dead (2006)
2. Dead Sexy (2007)
3. Romancing the Dead (2008)
4. Dead If I Do (2009)

Title: Vampire Hours
Author: Elaine Viets
Pages: 27

Primarily a mystery author best-known for her Dead-End Job series, Elaine Viets tries her hand at writing a paranormal for the first time in the story Vampire Hours. It’s a typical “woman gets older so her plastic surgeon husband starts shopping for a newer model” story, with a not-so-typical ending when Katharine meets some vampires.

Ms. Viets is another author of whom I know of and even read at least one short story by but I’ve never actually gotten around to reading any of her novels. I especially felt bad for Katharine because she had no real friends and her husband was scum. Although the subject in this story is sad, I did enjoy it in the end however I do wish it would have been just tad bit longer or maybe have an epilogue instead of leaving it to your imagination.

Title: How Stella Got Her Grave Back
Author: Toni L.P. Kelner
Pages: 37

And in award-winning author Toni L. P. Kelner’s “How Stella Got Her Grave Back.” vampires become amateur sleuths (with breaks for feeding) to solve the murder of a Jane Doe.

Nominated for the 2008 Anthony awards, the second editor Toni L. P. Kelner’s story How Stella Got Her Grave Back is the last but certainly not least story in the Many Bloody Returns anthology. She is another mystery author who has gotten her start writing vampire fiction in this collection but her mystery roots show through in the story when it‘s main character finds out there is someone buried in her grave.

I am familiar with Kelner’s work since I’ve read the first five novels in her Laura Fleming Mysteries so I knew she had a wicked sense of humor but applied to new characters it was even more pronounced. As of yet, the author hasn’t made any plans to turn these characters into a continuing series but I’d really love her to!

“A sire is a male parent. A female is a dam. And damned if you’re not female.”
“Vampires always say sire,” she said doubtfully.
“That’s because vampire society is male chauvinist, and has been since Dracula developed a taste for Turks on a stick. Let’s strike a blow for feminism! From now on, you can be my dam. My dam of the damned!”

Picture Explanations
Dracula: The Prince of Darkness’ birthday is being celebrated
Owl: According to some myths, the shtriga transform into owls
Bat: The vampires in this story can transform into bats
Alley: Armstrong’s vampires can go outside during the day and even hunt if they like
Shoegasm: There’s a store in the mall that has cobbler little folk whom Harry helped set up there.
Grave: Someone robs a grave in this story
Suitcase: Eve’s parents kick her out on her birthday
Cosmetic Cream: Sophie dreams of opening her own line of cosmetics.
Red Boot: The little girl who was kidnapped was wearing a pair of red boots
Slit Wrist Scars: Sandra attempted suicide when her children died but Death wouldn’t take her
Snow Storm: The couple in the story are stranded in a snow storm.
Scalpel: Katharine’s husband is a plastic surgeon who stops loving her because of her wrinkles
Cemetery: Stella goes home to visit her family plot

Sookie #8

The supernatural community in Bon Temps, Louisiana, is reeling from two hard blows- the supernatural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the man-made horror of the explosion at the vampire summit the month before in the up-north city of Rhodes. Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to normal. But that’s just not happening. Too many vampires- some friends, some not- were killed or injured, and her weretiger boyfriend, Quinn, is among the missing.

It’s clear that things are changing, whether the Weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie -friend of the pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, the leader of the local vampire community- is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death... and, once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood flowing, her world will be forever altered...

Title: From Dead to Worse
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Sookie Stackhouse, Book 8
Start & Finished: 6/3/08- 6/4/08
Published: 2008
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 359
Genre: Paranormal Mystery

The Southern Vampire Mysteries, an extremely popular paranormal series by author Charlaine Harris, has finally reached the eighth book in what will hopefully be a very long-lasting series. From Dead to Worse sees Louisiana barmaid, and telepath Sookie Stackhouse a lot less naïve, a lot more interesting, and also, even more popular in both her world and ours.

I discovered Charlaine Harris a couple of years ago and have since then read one of her completed series, and am caught up with the current books released in two others. While the Aurora Teagarden’s and the Harper Connelly books are remarkably good in their own way, no one will ever replace Sookie Stackhouse, my first Harris heroine. Not only is she the most appealing character, she’s also witty and interesting too. Plus, she has really yummy taste in guys!

After discovering how well-loved this heroine and her world is, Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) teamed up with HBO to bring Sookie to the small screen (TV) in True Blood which, judging by the fact it has already been green-lighted for a second season, seems like a pretty wise decision. It’s starting from the beginning so I’m not sure when or if anything from this book will make it into the adaptation but the war between the werewolves (with Sam and Sookie caught in the crossfire helping) was such a cool battle! What I wouldn’t give to see that filmed, so hopefully True Blood will last awhile. I really hope the few things that annoy me about the show (the main one is that the vampire’s fangs look like toothpicks among other things) either I’ll get used to or will eventually iron themselves out though.

Besides the Were fight, there are a few more skirmishes before the book is over. Oh and Sookie meets a couple of relatives she didn’t know she had too. From Dead to Worse is just as funny as ever and oh, so good! I seriously can’t wait for the next one since although a few problems were cleared up, there are always more that take their places. I saw the dwindling pages and I was so sad that it ended, Charlaine Harris just can’t write fast enough for me.

Southern Vampire Mysteries: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse

Other Charlaine Harris Related: Grave Surprise, An Ice Cold Grave, Aurora Teagarden #1-4 & #5-8

Links: Author (Wikipedia), True Blood Wikia
Interview: Author Q&A with Mighty Ganesha (slight spoilers), Star News Online

Picture Explanations
Chain: In Sookie's world, vampires and Weres can be subdued completely by silver chains
Lion: Sam is a rare type of shapeshifter and although he prefers the form of a dog, he can shift to just about anything.

Aurora Teagarden Series Books 1-4

Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden, Books 1- 4
Publisher: Scribner/ Berkley
Genre: Mystery

Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims.

Title: Real Murders
Start & Finished: 2/17/08
Published: 1990
Pages: 290

Author Charlaine Harris; best known for her paranormal Sookie Stackhouse (aka Southern Vampires) series, created her Aurora Teagarden mystery series in 1990. Her third book ever published was Real Murders. It was her very first go at a series and considering the fact that she’s had quite a few others since then, she was very successful with it.

This first book introduces us to the main character Aurora, a small-town librarian who is very interested in crimes. She soon discovers that she has quite a knack for solving them. My first impression of her wasn’t very flattering I’m afraid. She just was a hard person to really get to know but I liked that she didn’t actively pursue the investigation even though she was of course interested in it. It wasn’t her fault she kept practically tripping over dead bodies and murder weapons!

The idea behind the club Roe was a part of is that the members meet to discuss old murder investigations (that are actually real like Lizzie Borden, etc.) and several members are experienced in one area or another. I can’t say I would want to be near Lawrenceton while this particular serial killer was at work but the references to real crimes was an interesting additive to the plot. The person who is committing the crimes bases them off real murder investigations and is of course part of the club.

A mystery that involves a serial killer always runs the risk of revealing too much information because of the many crime scenes but Harris does a pretty good job of keeping the killer’s identity a secret. I had a sneaking suspicion of “whodunit” about halfway through the book but I wasn’t entirely sure especially since there were just so many good suspects! There were also a lot of good characters too like Roe’s two love interests Robin (the mystery writer) and fellow club member and local police detective Arthur Smith.

As I said before, there are several real life cases mentioned throughout the book and even some of the murders are based on. They are: Jack the Ripper, the Zebra murders, Julia Wallace’s murder, the poisoner Madeleine Smith, Piagentini and Waverly Jones murders, the Green River killer, Hillside Strangler, the chocolate poisoner Cordelia Botkin, the murder of June Anne Devaney, Ed Gein, the Croydon family poisoning, Jean-Paul Marat, Lizzie Borden, and the Moors Murders.

Aurora Teagarden's life was pretty much in order, though she wouldn't have objected to a nice relationship. All things considered, however, there wasn't anything to complain about. Then Jane Engle died. Aurora and Jane had been friends - not particularly close friends, but they'd both been members of the Real Murder Society and on occasion had shared tea, as well as an interest in crime. So Aurora was surprised to discover that she was named in Jane's will as the heir to her home and some money . . . about a half million dollars, in fact. A nice house, a lot of money . . . things were looking up nicely. But the house held a secret - a fact that was frighteningly obvious the first time Aurora went there and realized that someone had broken in, had been searching for something. It didn't take long to discover the secret: Jane had hidden a skull, and Aurora had just found it. Aurora Teagarden was no stranger to a good mystery, but she wasn't quite certain what to do with this one. Before she has a chance to consider her next move, someone decides that she already knows too much. Now she has a few more questions to answer: Whodunit? Who was it done to? And who seemed to keep on wanting to do it?

Title: A Bone to Pick
Start & Finished: 2/18/08
Published: 1992
Pages: 262

A Bone to Pick; the second story in Charlaine Harris’ Aurora Teagarden series, takes place a couple of months after the first book Real Murders. A few things have happened to Roe since then: one of her boyfriend’s Robin, has left on a book tour, the other guy she was seeing (Arthur) is getting married, and her friend Jane Engle from The Real Murders Club (which has been disbanded) has died leaving Roe her cat Madeleine, her fortune, and her house. Complete with a skull and a mystery to solve. Poor Roe!

I can’t say I approved of the way Roe’s relationships turned out at first. I actually liked both Robin and Arthur a lot in Real Murders but Robin is absent from the A Bone to Pick and Arthur seems to have had a complete personality change. At least Roe is the same... just a whole lot richer and with a cat to boot. She also gets a new love interest during the course of the book named Aubrey Scott. He’s the local Episcopal minister but he acts just like a regular guy and he never gets “preachy” so I liked him.

The murder mystery itself wasn’t as harrowing as in the first book (no serial killer here!) but I still wasn’t able to figure out the “whodunit” until the very last second. I actually felt bad for the murderer too. It might just be me, but I felt like Charlaine Harris was more interested in developing her characters than developing a convincing murder mystery. Thankfully the book doesn’t suffer from it although I have to say this was my least favorite in the series.

Basking in an inheritance that makes her financially independent, Roe's looking for a new occupation. Her days as a librarian are over. Real estate might be fun, she thinks. And who better to teach her the tricks of the trade than her Lauren Bacall look-alike mother, Aida Brattle Teagarden Queensland, who happens to own one of the major real estate firms in town? Signing on as an apprentice, Roe agrees to show an expensive house to some out-of-town clients. The house has its charms, but the clients are not too thrilled with what's been left behind in the master bedroom: the corpse of real estate woman Tonia Lee Greenhouse. And Tonia's only the first victim. It quickly becomes clear that the killer is someone familiar with the real estate community in Lawrenceton, someone who has access to the houses that are on the market. Roe's not too sure she likes real estate, after all. She hadn't counted on murder. But she definitely likes her well-to-do client, Martin Bartell. In fact, it may be love at first sight.

Title: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
Start & Finished: 2/19/08
Published: 1994
Pages: 231

Aurora Teagarden’s interest in real estate is short lived after she finds a dead body while showing a home in Charlaine Harris’ third story of the Teagarden series Three Bedrooms, One Corpse. One good thing does come out of the encounter though, she meets wealthy businessman Martin Bartell and it’s attraction at first sight.

Mrs. Harris’ series seems to be moving along at a fairly fast pace and Roe does a bit of growing up during the course of the novel. I’m glad that she decided not to follow in her mother’s footsteps because you can tell she really wasn’t real estate agent material but she doesn’t strike me as a woman of leisure either. I think she should just stick with being a librarian or maybe buy a bookstore. As you can tell, Roe’s relationships only seem to last for about the length of the current story or in the case of Aubrey the minister (a relationship that ends during this book on friendly terms) about a book and a half.

Even though Martin is a bit older than her I found myself hoping that they would stick so of course I never believed for one second he had anything to do with the murder. I did however guess who the real killer was early into the story but I wasn’t positive until right before Roe was. She does do a few things throughout the story that seem out of character for her and they nearly get her killed! So with her new romance maybe she’ll become a bit more careful in the future because wherever Roe seems to go there is always trouble!

Love at first sight turns into newlywed bliss for former librarian Aurora Teagarden— until violence cuts the honeymoon short.

Wealthy businessman Martin Bartell gives Roe exactly what she wants for their wedding: Julius House. But both the house and Martin come with murky pasts. And when Roe is attacked by an ax-wielding maniac, she realizes that the secrets inside her four walls—and her brand-new marriage—could destroy her.

Title: The Julius House
Start & Finished: 2/20/08
Published: 1995
Pages: 240

After a “whirl-wind” courtship, Aurora Teagarden becomes Mrs. Martin Bartell in Charlaine Harris’ fourth book in this series, The Julius House. Martin and Roe start looking for their first house together and of course being Roe, she wants the only house in Lawrenceton that has a mysterious past. The Julius family vanished without a trace six years earlier leaving everything behind and now Roe intends to find them.

Roe and Martin’s relationship moved incredibly fast (they just met each other in the last book), maybe a little too fast but they seem to really love each other even if there are still a few secrets. Most of the book seems to be about the couple getting married and moving into their new house. Roe doesn’t decide to look into the missing family’s disappearance until chapter nine, although since we are talking about Roe, the idea was probably there the moment she laid eyes on the house.

I was able to figure out where the family was before Roe did because Harris just gives such wonderful clues. They’re small but they are there if you pay attention. Something still didn’t seem quite right to me once the family was found which made perfect sense later on. This was a very good story and mystery and I can’t wait to read the next book Dead Over Heels to find out how Roe will handle the secrets her new hubby keeps trying to hide.


Charlaine Harris’ Wikipedia page includes more information about her and her other series as well as this biography/interview with the author. She also has a Q& A on her official site.

The Aurora Teagarden Series: Real Murders, A Bone to Pick, Three Bedrooms One Corpse, The Julius House, Dead Over Heels, A Fool and His Honey, Last Scene Alive, Poppy Done to Death

Have a Furry Christmas!

Let’s face it- the holidays can bring out the beast in anyone. They are particularly hard if you’re a lycanthrope. Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner have harvested the scariest, funniest, saddest werewolf tales, by an outstanding pack of authors, best read by the light of a full moon and with a silver bullet close at hand.

Whether wolfing down a holiday feast (use your imagination) or craving some hair of the dog on New Year’s morning, the werewolves in these and eleven more frighteningly original stories will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants of readers who love a little wolfsbane with their mistletoe.

Title: Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
Editor: Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner
Start & Finished: 12/12/09-12/23/09
Published: October 7, 2008
Publisher: ACE
Pages: 340 (total)
Genre: Anthology-Paranormal/ Christmas

With the success of the birthday/ vampire themed anthology Many Bloody Returns, Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner decided to do another themed anthology with stories contributed by authors from various genres. After batting around a few ideas (zombies and Arbor Day for one), it was decided that the theme for their latest anthology would be called Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (ironically both poisonous plants). As you can probably concur from the title, the stories featured within are about werewolves and Christmas. A werewolf is not a “big, fluffy puppy with bad teeth” and though some of these authors have never published paranormal before, none make the mistake of making the Weres cuddly creatures.

Vamps and birthdays? And now Weres and Christmas? What will these ladies think of next? Mummies and Valentine’s Day? Somehow it wouldn’t surprise me a bit and I can already see the title: All Wrapped Up in You. Both of these anthologies are odd (yet incredibly unique) ideas but they inspired some great authors to contribute incredibly fun stories. Some are just set around Christmas, some add to well-established Christmas legends, and a few even twist those legends but all were amazingly good.


Title: Gift Wrap
Author: Charlaine Harris
Pages: 18

In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s “Gift Wrap,” Sookie Stackhouse is all alone for Christmas and feeling mighty sorry for herself, until she has an unexpected encounter with someone who has bigger problems than loneliness.

Sookie Stackhouse; the heroine of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mystery series (which recently became the hit HBO show True Blood) is having a boring Christmas Eve in Gift Wrap thinking about how alone she is, when she decides she needs “a mission, a project, a task, [or] a diversion.” She got just that when she comes across a “naked, bleeding, muddy” man in her woods named Preston. After helping him to safety, Sookie decides to keep him safe when his attackers come back for him. Since she enjoys protecting and helping people this is a perfect tailored Christmas gift for her!

It isn’t necessary to have read any of the books in the series to enjoy Gift Wrap though there are a few slight spoilers to show where the story takes place (probably right after From Dead to Worse, the eighth book). I thought that this was one of the oddest short stories I’ve ever read by Charlaine Harris (I actually discovered her books via an anthology several years ago) but I did enjoy learning a tiny bit more about the fae and Sookie’s grandfather that are only a recent addition to the series. Preston is pretty much a throwaway character that we’ll never see again but I did think he was better than some of Sookie’s previous beaus.

First Paragraph: It was Christmas Eve. I was all by myself.

Title: The Haire of the Beast
Author: Donna Andrews
Pages: 7

An unnamed girl agrees to translate a spell for her brother Tom to turn into a werewolf but decides to take it for a test run on her ex-boyfriend first because “if the spell didn’t work, the powder would give him only a few stomach cramps,… and if it did work, it wouldn’t be Tom hauled in by Animal Control and maybe waking up in a cage.” The Haire of the Beast is the first paranormal story by the mystery writer Donna Andrews; she is the author of two series: The Meg Langslow stories and the Turing Hopper.

Revenge is a dish best served… furry. The Haire of the Best was a really fun story! Ms. Andrews had never published a paranormal story before but she did a great job with this one. It still “sounded” like her since it took a more academic approach to the werewolf thing. So far as I know it’s not related to her series characters at all though I think it would be something Meg would find amusing!

First Sentence: “Why on earth would you want to be a werewolf?” I asked.

Title: Lucy, at Christmastime
Author: Simon R. Green
Pages: 4

Sitting and “drinking wormwood brandy in Strangefellows, the oldest bar in the world,” Leo Morn sits talking to the same person as he does every year on Christmas Eve, his Lucy. Simon R. Green’s Lucy, at Christmastime is the shortest story contributed to the Wolfsbane and Mistletoe collection.

Mr. Green is a new author for me so I’d like to know if the world featured in Lucy, at Christmastime is one from this author’s various series because it seemed really neat with the fairies, the demon girl reporter, and various others. This story honestly couldn’t be longer than four pages because it’s so sad and upsetting. I really only enjoyed the descriptions of that world’s inhabitants (especially Rudolph who is “lying slumped and extremely drunk in a corner, muttering something about unionization.”) which is why I’d like to try a book by this author some day.

First Sentence: You never forget your first; and mine was Lucy.


Title: The Night Things Changed
Author: Dana Cameron
Pages: 27

Brother and sister, werewolf and vampire respectively and as the rest of their kind the Fangborn do, each work to save the world from evil. In The Night Things Changed however, the new evil they are hunting just happens to be something new that they aren’t quite prepared to deal with… Dana Cameron is the author of the Emma Fielding archaeological mysteries and is a professional archaeologist herself.

The world building that Dana Cameron does in so short amount of time is really astonishing. The werewolves and the vamps in The Night Things Changed are called Fangborn, also known as “Pandora’s Orphans, the ones the ancients called ‘Hope,’ supposedly trapped at the bottom of the box.” However, according to the actual Fangborn legends, “the first Fangborn got out, and it’s a good thing they did too, for when evil is released into the world, so was means of destroying it. Vampires and werewolves, the first to clean the blood and ease the pain, the second to remove irredeemable evil when [they] find it.” I really wasn’t prepared for this story since I have actually read a book by this author before and didn’t enjoy it very much. I can tell you that if she ever decided to switch from mystery to paranormal, she definitely could!

First Paragraph: I pounded up the stairs to the roof and slammed open the door; the wintry air lashed my face. My sister the vampire was stretched out on her stomach, nearly naked, under the pale December sun.

Title: The Werewolf Before Christmas
Author: Kat Richardson
Pages: 22

He knows when you’ve been naughty, he knows when you’ve been nice and Matthias is definitely on the naughty list this year! After chowing down on Rudolph, Mattie finds himself leading Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve and using his keen werewolf sense of smell since his nose isn’t so bright… completely against his will though. He might as well be related to Ebenezer Scrooge! The Werewolf Before Christmas is Kat Richardson’s first werewolf story though the heroine of her Greywalker paranormal detective series has come up against some other creatures that go bump in the night.

The author did a fair bit of research on old Kris Kringle/Father Christmas/Saint Nicholas (among many other names he goes by that make it into the story) and managed to incorporate those little nuggets throughout the story yet Richardson manages not to get too bogged down with details either. The idea of a werewolf leading Santa’s sleigh could have made this story into a comedy but it really wasn’t and that’s what makes it so unique. I’ve read the first book in Richardson’s Greywalker series and though I really loved it I still haven’t gotten around to picking any of the others up. Thanks to this great short story I might be doing that sooner rather than later.

First Sentence: ‘Twas the night before Christmas- well, the late afternoon, in fact, but who could tell at the North Pole in the middle of winter- and Matthias the werewolf was knee-deep in reindeer guts.

Title: Fresh Meat
Author: Alan Gordon
Pages: 27

Someone is hunting werewolves this Christmas and has found one in guard dog trainer Sam Lehrmann… they didn’t count on his close connection with his canines though! Alan Gordan is the author of the Fools' Guild Mystery series and Fresh Meat was his first werewolf story. He has said that he has plans for writing a book with these characters soon.

Stories about dogs that act almost human have always fascinated me which is why I wasn’t at all surprised with how much I enjoyed Fresh Meat. I had never even heard of this author before but I was impressed with how easily the story flowed since he keeps you guessing right up until the very end. This wasn’t even a mystery yet everything is revealed in increments.

First Paragraph: “Your order is ready, Mister Lehrmann,” called Bert, emerging from the back room wiping his hands on a bloody towel. “Two sides of beef, so fresh they were mooing yesterday.”

Title: Il Est Ne`
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Pages: 27

In New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn's "Il Est Ne'," Kitty is stuck spending Christmas alone in a Waffle House, until she ends up playing Christmas angel to a brand-new werewolf. But when dead bodies start to stack up like pancakes, she has to decide if he's been nice or very naughty.

Carrie Vaughn is the author of the Kitty Norville series which is about a werewolf who happens to be a radio talk show host and Il Est Ne’ takes place right before the third book Kitty Takes a Holiday. Her holiday this year isn’t very jolly but she does get to do what she does best- help someone. Even if there is no place like home for the holidays, Kitty helps make being on the road bearable.

The Kitty books are among my favorite werewolf series to date so I was very excited to see a story by her included in the collection. Besides Patricia Briggs and Charlaine Harris, she’s the reason why I wanted to read Wolfsbane and Mistletoe in the first place. This was a great little story that has no real bearing on the actual series but yet fits entirely in that world so it makes a great read while waiting for the next book in the Kitty series to come out.

First Paragraph: Hugging himself, shivering, David curled up under the reaching bows of a pine tree. A moonlit drift of snow glowed silver just a few feet away, outside his shelter. More snow was falling, and he was naked. If he simply relaxed, he wouldn’t be that cold. But he was afraid. More afraid every time this happened.

Title: The Perfect Gift
Author: Dana Stabenow
Pages: 13

This isn’t the first short story by Dana Stabenow I’ve read since she contributed to the anthology And the Dying is Easy but like a few other authors’ in this anthology The Perfect Gift is her first story with a werewolf in it. Set in her home state of Alaska (just like all of her work), there have been several killings that look like they were done by animals when Detectives Lobison and Romanov get a tip that will lead one of them into a whole new world.

Another fairly short story, also with serial killers in it, The Perfect Gift wasn’t a very noteworthy addition to the collection. I did find the beginning interesting, especially when I re-read it after I finished the story but there isn’t very much concentration on that. It’s a pity Stabenow didn’t play that part up a little because I felt like this story ended a bit too abruptly.

First Sentence: “They’re overgrazing their range.”

Title: Christmas Past
Author: Keri Arthur
Pages: 25

In “Christmas Past,” by New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur, Hannah gets an unmerry-- and possibly life-threatening-- Christmas present when the hunky werewolf who dumped her last Christmas Eve turns up as her partner on a hunt for a vampire serial killer.

There is a vampire out there sucking Christmas donation collectors dry in the story Christmas Past and it has caught the attention of the Para-investigations squad. Hannah's a human who can sense evil and her partner on this case just happens to be her ex. While staking out for the vamp and reminding herself constantly, "No. He's bad for our health and we don't like him, remember?" Poor Hannah has got it rough this year!

The best thing about anthologies is getting a small taste of an author’s work to whet your appetite for more and that’s exactly what happened when I read Christmas Past. I vaguely remember hearing about Keri Arthur here and there but now I certainly know what the fuss is about! By the second page I was already invested in these characters, so much so that I thought for sure that they had their own series. Unfortunately that’s not the case but there is several other series she has written that have the same elements in it.

First Sentence: Normally, I love Christmas.

Title: SA
Author: J. A. Konrath
Pages: 40

The longest story in this collection, J.A. Konrath’s SA is of course about a werewolf who is just finding out what he is and that he’s been eating bad people but also about a group of therianthropes (humans who morph into animals such as a boar, a cheetah, a tortoise, and even coral) too. Oh and “Kris Kringle and his magic red suit are using Satan’s Claws- which became Santa Claus over time- to kill therianthropes with the help of… the Salvation Army.”

SA started off extremely gross but it got much more interesting pretty fast and though it was mostly a silly story I still found parts of it funny. Other parts were a bit ridiculous but on the whole… no, it was still ridiculous. I still have to give credit for it being the most original, if slightly out there story in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe though.

First Sentence: Robert Weston Smith walked across the snow-covered parking lot carrying a small plastic container of his poop.

Title: The Star of David
Author: Patricia Briggs
Pages: 28

#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs’s lone wolf David Christiansen mends fences with his daughter and gives a young man an unusual Christmas gift he’s sure never to forget in “The Star of David.”

Author of the Mercedes Thompson series Patricia Briggs has written a wonderfully interesting story starring a minor character from her first Mercy book in The Star of David. David is a werewolf that is estranged from his daughter when one of the kids that her foster agency placed has a bit of a problem and she only knows of one person to call… papa.

Patricia Briggs’ Mercy and Alpha & Omega books are both some of my absolute favorite paranormal series which is why I was so eager to read her story in this collection. It’s been awhile since I read Moon Called but I still remembered David from it. I’m so glad that she decided to explore his character further and if she ever decides to write another series about the werewolf mercenary I’ll be one of the first in line to pick them up.

First Paragraph: “I checked them out myself,” Myra snapped. “Have you ever just considered that your boy isn’t the angel you thought he was?”

Title: You’d Better Not Pyout
Author: Nancy Pickard
Pages: 22

Nancy Pickard is another mystery author who has never written about the supernatural before contributing her story You’d Better Not Pyout. In it, two Russian vampires decide that Santa Claus must be a vampire himself and go to the North Pole to get set up for life only things don’t exactly go their way…

The werewolf in this story was more interesting than the vampires in my opinion but it seemed like she had a smaller part. This was another evil Santa story but I liked it a whole lot more than the others because the idea of a vampire Santa actually makes sense. A very interesting take on the Santa myth so well done Ms. Pickard!

First Sentence: “I’m telling you,” Pasha argued, “it explains everything.”

Title: Rogue Elements
Author: Karen Chance
Pages: 34

In Karen Chance’s Rogue Elements someone is kidnapping werewolves, and not just any wolves at that: every one is the daughter of an important clan leader. Desperate to find his daughter, Sebastian Arnou does the unthinkable: he goes to the War Mage Corps, and although they agree to help, few have much experience with Weres. The exception is disgraced war mage Lia de Croissets, whose mother happened to be a high ranking member of an important Were clan. Someone with a werewolf mother isn’t much trusted by the Corps, and a mage with a human father is equally suspect as far as the clans are concerned. But her knowledge of Were customs and her background in human magic make Lia unmistakably the best person for the job. Whether they will be enough to keep her alive is another matter.

This was a surprisingly complex short story that feels a bit like a novel and I enjoyed every second of it. I’m not sure if this world relates to Karen Chance’s two series or not but I’ve been wanting to try her books for awhile now and I think I may just have to do that soon. If she manages to make a short story so detailed I can only imagine what a full-length novel would be like. Rogue Elements was easily one of the best stories in the collection.

First Paragraph: “There’s no such thing as a half werewolf,” I said, trying not to growl. I’d been dreading this conversation for six months. It figured my boss would wait until now to bring it up. Way to ruin my Christmas Eve.

Title: Milk and Cookies
Author: Rob Thurman
Pages: 19

The first young adult story in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe is Rob Thurman’s Milk and Cookies and it’s the story about a thirteen year old boy dealing with a bully around the holidays. He’s also trying to make his little sister’s Christmas a happy one too.

A slightly disturbing story but I still liked it and I had a feeling I knew what the big twist was all along too. Still, it was quite a bit different from most of the stories included in this collection. I almost hesitate calling this a “young adult” story since it does feel a bit younger than that but only at times since the main character Nicky is a bit older than his years. This was the first time I had ever even heard of this author before but I’m a bit curious now so I may pick up the first in her Cal and Niko Leandros series.

First Sentence: Christmas sucked.

Title: Keeping Watch Over His Flock
Author: Toni L.P. Kelner
Pages: 18

A recent contributor to the paranormal world with her vampire short story in Many Bloody Returns and the co-editor of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, Toni L. P. Kelner takes her first stab at writing about werewolves in Keeping Watch Over His Flock and what a stab it is! This is the only other young adult story where the teen in it is spending Christmas with the Alpha of his new pack when a young girl goes missing in town.

There was so much I loved about Keeping Watch Over His Flock such as Dogwarts (yes, like Hogwarts only for werewolves and no, that’s not the official name), the fact that though it takes practice the wolves can change into just about anything and I really loved the pack’s story of the first werewolf and how it tied into the traditional Christmas story too. Easily one of my favorite stories in the whole collection so it’s fitting that Wolfsbane and Mistletoe ends on a high note.

First Paragraph: Maybe half the members of the pack were in wolf form, with the others still human, and Jake wasn’t sure which he would rather look at- the bared teeth or the stern frowns. So instead he aimed his answers at the Christmas tree with its twinkling lights. There was something unreal about having his whole life decided in front of a Christmas tree, but that’s what happened when you broke virtually all of a werewolf pack’s rules on Christmas Eve.

Picture Explanations
Shotgun: Sookie protects Preston. “ ‘Oooo, I’m scared,’ said the Man Mountain in an assumed falsetto. But as I swung open the front door and he got a look at the shotgun, I could see that he truly did look as if he was having second thoughts. Good.”
Brownies: The girl in the story puts the concoction into brownies and leaves them on her ex-boyfriend’s porch.
Bar: The setting of the story
T-Shirt: Claudia wears this in her story
Bishop of Myra: Also known as Santa Claus among other things is one of the main characters in this story.
Doberman: The main character trains all kinds of guard dogs, this is Waldo.
Waffle House: Kitty meets a new werewolf at a Waffle House
Wolf: The werewolves are out on Christmas Eve
Elf Shoe: Hannah dresses up as a donation elf to catch the killer and she really hates the shoes!
Salvation Army: The helpers of the evil Santa Claus
Wolf: David in wolf form “the perfect killing machine covered with four-inch-deep, red-gold fur.” African Wild Dog: A pack of these take Ingrid in as a baby when her parents abandoned her after learning that she is a werewolf.
Christmas in Front of the Fire: There is a really important scene that takes place at a Christmas party.
Cookies: Nicky’s little sister still believes in Santa.
Rudolph: He doesn’t guide Santa’s sleigh in this one!

Aurora Teagarden Series Books 5-8

Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden, Books 5- 8
Publisher: Scriber/ St. Martin’s Minotaur
Genre: Mystery

Part-time librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden never liked Detective Sergeant Jack Burns, but she also never wanted to see him dead— especially not dropped from a plane right into her own backyard. But when other strange things happen around her, ranging from peculiar (her irascible cat turns up wearing a pink ribbon) to violent (her assistant at the library is attacked) to potentially deadly (her former lover is stabbed), she must decipher the personal message in the madness before it's too late.

Title: Dead Over Heels
Start & Finished: 3/5/08
Published: 1996
Pages: 272

Solving the murders of the people of Lawrenceton is somehow what amateur sleuth/ librarian Aurora Teagarden does best but even this is a new one on her! The fifth book in Charlaine Harris’ series, Dead Over Heels serves Roe with a nasty surprise in the form of a body falling from a plane, then landing practically at her feet and then it gets even more personal.

Taking place two years after the last book in the series (The Julius House), Martin and Roe have finally started to settle into their married life and Roe is getting used to having Angel and Shelby (her friends and bodyguards) living in the apartment above her garage. She also stopped being “a woman of leisure” and has gone back to working for the library part time. Of course that doesn’t mean she can’t find time to solve this new mystery!

I’ve noticed that over the course of the series Harris has slowly left behind the idea of incorporating real life murders into the books; which was part of the main plot of the first book in the series, and now there is no mention of them at all. Just like any person and town things change I guess!

Not a very action-packed mystery, even with the ending but it was believable. The “why” was easy to figure out but the “whodunit” took me until a few pages before Roe did. I still wouldn’t recommend reading this series out of order because then you spoil the whole series for yourself. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum here too.

Sleepless nights, a cross-country chase and a temporary stint at motherhood turn Aurora Teagarden's life upside down. When her husband's niece Regina shows up unannounced on their doorstep with a baby and a secret, Aurora's perpetual curiosity leaps into overdrive - especially when the body of the girl's husband is found ax murdered in her own backyard.

Regina flees the scene, and Aurora is left holding the baby, struggling with the intricacies of bottles, diapers - and a mystery. What was Regina running from? Why was her husband murdered? The answers are hidden back in Ohio, and that's just where Aurora goes, husband, baby and all. But Regina's secrets are very dangerous and Aurora walks right into them - much to her own peril.

Title: A Fool and His Honey
Start & Finished: 3/6/08
Published: 1999
Pages: 256

Another year has gone by in Aurora Teagarden’s life in Charlaine Harris’ A Fool in His Honey and just as Roe starts to get comfortable in her marriage, Martin’s niece shows up from Ohio bringing a whole mess of trouble with her. After taking off in the middle of the night leaving a baby who might not even belong to her and her murdered husband behind, Martin and Roe decide to leave Lawrenceton and solve this new mystery Regina has dumped in their laps.

Harris herself described this sixth book in her Aurora Teagarden series as “probably the most reviled book [she] had ever written” but I understood why it had to end the way it did, unfortunately that didn’t make me like it any more. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I think Harris had been building up to that moment for awhile too and maybe she shouldn’t have ended the story on such a depressing note.

The characters are obviously aging, something that not too many authors; especially mystery authors who have a long running series, do much anymore. I think A Fool and His Honey was when Ms. Harris decided it was time to start wrapping up the Aurora Teagarden series but with the depressing ending aside, this was a well-paced mystery but not as charming as the other books in the series.

Above quote is taken from an interview with the author at CrescentBlues.com

In the first installment of the Aurora Teagarden series, Real Murders, the small town of Lawrenceton, Georgia, was beset by a series of horrific murders. Librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden teamed up with true crime writer Robin Crusoe to catch the killer, and the results of their investigation have gone down in Lawrenceton history.

Now Robin is back in town, set to begin filming the movie version of the terrible events of so many years ago. Of course he's not alone-he brings with him a cast and crew the size of which nearly overwhelms the tiny excitement-starved town. Roe is disturbed to discover that the film's crew includes her stepson, who despises her, as well as an actress set to play her in the film. Everyone in Lawrenceton suddenly goes movie crazy, mentally composing awards-acceptance speeches while prancing around the fringes of the set awaiting discovery.

Roe's not so crazy about the whole thing...and neither is a secret, vicious murderer. When bodies start dropping, it's up to Roe to reprise her role as amateur sleuth and stop the carnage before it gets out of hand. It's no problem for the beloved small-town librarian in this wonderfully cozy installment in the adored Aurora Teagarden mystery series.

Title: Last Scene Alive
Start & Finished: 3/6/08
Published: 2002
Pages: 256

Seven years after two serial killers terrorized the small town of Lawrenceton, Georgia by re-creating some of the most famous, heinous crimes and carrying them out, the mystery writer who helped the local librarian stop them meet again in Charlaine Harris’ Last Scene Alive.

Aurora Teagarden is still trying to recover from the loss of her husband when her ex-boyfriend comes to town with a group of movie people there to make a film essentially of the first book of this whole series, Real Murders in which Robin and Roe met. Also where he saved hers and her little brother’s life too.

In other words, the Aurora Teagarden series is starting to come full circle. I believe that if this had not have been a series, Robin and Roe would have ended up together after the first book (and I was a tad disappointed that they didn’t) but Harris allowed them both to live a little before she felt it was time for them to see each other again.

I felt like there wasn’t that much of a mystery to Last Scene Alive, and I could have cared less about the victim or the killer. This story served more as a re-introduction of old characters than anything but it was much better than the last two stories, Dead Over Heels and A Fool and His Honey.

On the way to a lunch meeting of her local book discussion group, the Uppity Women, small-town Southern librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden is shocked and dismayed to find her sister-in-law Poppy lying bloody and dead right outside her own back door. Poppy had her flaws, certainly-she and her husband were having trouble staying faithful to each other-but she didn't deserve to be so brutally murdered.

Investigating a case like this is never easy, of course, given the gossipy atmosphere of any small town, what with Poppy and her husband's extramarital affairs, the local police detective (who also happens to be a former boyfriend of Roe's) and his seemingly unresolved feelings for Poppy, and the need to protect Poppy's family. But Roe is also coping with a burgeoning romantic relationship as well as the sudden appearance of her teenaged half brother. All in all, it's a lot for one woman to have on her plate, even one as together as Roe.

Title: Poppy Done to Death
Start & Finished: 3/6/08
Published: 2003
Pages: 240

The mystery series starring Aurora Teagarden that started over a decade ago (although only eight years have passed in the actual books) and put Charlaine Harris on the map finally comes to an end in Poppy Done to Death.

Set a little over a year after Last Scene Alive, Roe has wrangled a very sought after an invitation for her step-sister-in-law Poppy to the exclusive Uppity Women’s Club that most of the women of Lawrenceton would kill to join so when the scatterbrained Poppy doesn’t show up, Roe drives over to confront her. Once she’s there it quickly becomes apparent that someone else confronted Poppy earlier that day too... and left her dead.

I've found over the course of the books that I like the little Georgian town and what happens to it's citizens but not so much all of the characters. This was another story in the series that showcased the changing personality of Arthur (who had a very good chance of being “The One” for Roe in the first book) and also how little I cared whether or not the killer was caught. Can’t say I was very surprised when I learned the killer’s identity since I guessed part of the motive early on

Finishing a series satisfactorily to it’s fans is not the easiest thing in the world but other than a few hitches here and there, Harris pulls it off. I was happy with all of the re-introductions of people from the previous books and the ending in general. I’ll miss Aurora but the author has several other series that I enjoy more than this one and it was time for it to end.

The Aurora Teagarden Series: Real Murders, A Bone to Pick, Three Bedrooms One Corpse, The Julius House, Dead Over Heels, A Fool and His Honey, Last Scene Alive, Poppy Done to Death