Real Murders (Aurora Teagarden #1)
Written by Charlaine Harris
Read by Therese Plummer
Librarian Aurora Teagarden reckons she knows everything
about her fellow townsfolk, including which ones share her interest in the
darker side of human nature, as she and her friends have formed a club to
discuss real life killings. But fiction soon becomes fact as more and more
bodies are discovered, and the similarities between prior murders and those of
Aurora's fellow townsfolk become frighteningly common
I’ve read most of the Sookie
Stackhouse books and enjoyed the down to earth take on the supernatural so I thought
I’d try some of Charlaine Harris’s ‘regular’ mysteries. Real Murders takes
place in a small town where everyone seems to know each other and have ‘their
place’. Aurora or Roe is one of the librarians with little social life, always
over shadowed by either her glamorous and successful mother or her beautiful
best friend. Her one solace is the monthly meeting of Real Murders, a true
crime club where they discuss old murders and the investigations. When one of the
members is found murder at one of their meetings, Row find herself caught up in
the investigation and possibly one of the next victims...
This is very much in the cosy mystery
area with a regular person somehow able to make the pieces of the crime fit
together better than the police, ask the questions that they don’t – all while continuing
to live a normal life. As such it is an easy listen, not overly taxing but
nothing really pulls me back to want to know what happens next. I found Roe a
little bit of a caricature of a small town librarian and while a perfectly
pleasant character not anyone that will ever back the lists of strongest women
ever. In comparison I found her mother a much more compelling character with some
real backbone. Roe also has a couple of love interests – for the first time in
her life it seems and she is rather unsure about which one she likes.
The murders themselves are the most
compelling element with someone determined to recreated scenes and
circumstances of famous real murders. I was not quite sure who it was and was surprised
by the solution. That raised the story for me. The narration was perfect
competent but not inspiring. The writing was very easy and unchallenging.
Overall, this was a perfect nice audiobook but one I’m unlikely to remember
much about in a few months.
Recommended for fans of Nora Roberts
and M.C. Beaton 6.5 out of 10
Yeah, I tried a few pages of this series a while back and just couldn't get into it. I though I would like it because I'm a big fan of the SS series, but it just didn't work for me. Glad to know the element of surprise remained till the end.
ReplyDeleteI tried her other series too, Harper Connely, and it was a slow start but later on it got better. I think Sci-Fi or some other cable channel is developing this for TV too. I have yet to read this but I like CHarris' brand of mystery, I'll pick this up after I wrap up Harper Connely.
ReplyDeleteI fear no, I do hear that she is tstl too
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of her Harper series I still need to read. I might have to pick her up when I'm in the mood for a cozy. I forgot she had the teagarden series!
ReplyDeleteI read this one awhile back and enjoyed it as well. It don't blow me away by any means but it was a pretty solid beginning to this series and I'm definitely going to read more. I actually really enjoyed Harris' Harper Connelly series if you haven't tried that one yet. It is one that I would recommend!
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