This is one of my most favorite cozy heroines in a long time. A woman who is damaged physically and mentally and working hard to keep it together. She is strong, intelligent and reserved. The mystery and solution are believable. The secondary characters are an interesting collection that I can see growing over time. Looking forward to more in this series. ( )

Caustically sharp social commentary disguised as a murder mystery. ( )

3.5 stars. Lily Bard is quite a switch from Sookie Stackhouse. While Sookie gets darker and more cynical as the series progresses, Lily starts out that way, and with good reason. This was a quick read and a decent mystery. I didn't figure it out, but I don't read a lot of mysteries, so that may be why. I'm not a big fan of her current love interest, but I have a feeling that's going to change in the next book or so. Harris's attention to mundane detail (which eventually got old with the Sookie books) is present here, but not to a vexing degree. I'm up for reading another. ( )

Cleaning woman Lily Bard is trying to build a new life for herself in Shakespeare, Arkansas, after some traumatic events elsewhere. She keeps herself busy with her housecleaning jobs, body building and martial arts. Even so, some nights she just can't sleep because of the memories.

One night, she discovers someone she doesn't recognize hauling something to the arboretum across the street from her house. She notices because they are using her garbage can cart! After they leave and go into the nearby apartment building, Lily decides to investigate. She finds the body of Pardon Albee who owns the apartment building and sold Lily her house. Not wanting to get involved, she makes an anonymous phone call the Police Chief Claude Friedrich.

She doesn't want to get involved, but she cleans for most of the residents of the apartment building among others in town and her curiosity is engaged. But she does more than investigate. She's also beginning a romantic relationship with her almost-divorced karate instructor and having confrontations with a drunk who lives in the apartment building and is supposed to clean the church Lily is also hired to clean.

I enjoyed getting to know Lily and gradually learning about her traumatic past. Julia Gibson did a good job with all the Southern accents and also did a good job with the pacing of the story. ( )

Cleaning woman Lily Bard is trying to build a new life for herself in Shakespeare, Arkansas, after some traumatic events elsewhere. She keeps herself busy with her housecleaning jobs, body building and martial arts. Even so, some nights she just can't sleep because of the memories.

One night, she discovers someone she doesn't recognize hauling something to the arboretum across the street from her house. She notices because they are using her garbage can cart! After they leave and go into the nearby apartment building, Lily decides to investigate. She finds the body of Pardon Albee who owns the apartment building and sold Lily her house. Not wanting to get involved, she makes an anonymous phone call the Police Chief Claude Friedrich.

She doesn't want to get involved, but she cleans for most of the residents of the apartment building among others in town and her curiosity is engaged. But she does more than investigate. She's also beginning a romantic relationship with her almost-divorced karate instructor and having confrontations with a drunk who lives in the apartment building and is supposed to clean the church Lily is also hired to clean.

I enjoyed getting to know Lily and gradually learning about her traumatic past. Julia Gibson did a good job with all the Southern accents and also did a good job with the pacing of the story. ( )

This is my second reading of this series. I still enjoy it just as much or more as I did the first time. I've read this whole series 3 times now as of 2023. I never get tired of it. ( )

wasn't expecting to like this so much. Mostly known for her vampire series, Ms. Harris writes this mystery about Lily Bard, a human with a past. Well written, a page turner without being overly gory or romantic. I'll be getting another in the series! ( )

It turns out that you can no more judge a book by its title than by its cover.

I'd been put off reading the Lily Bard books because the combination of Lily Bard and the word "Shakespeare" in the title of each novel reminded me of the twee and sugar-coated Aurora Teagarden books, which I had not enjoyed.

I'm glad I overcame my prejudices and listened to the first Lily Bard novel.

There is nothing sugar-coated here. Lily Bard is a survivor. Her old life has been stolen from her. She regards her current life as successful if she gets through each day quietly, without attracting any attention.

Lily is strong, focused, observant but tight-lipped. She earns her living cleaning houses in the small town of Shakespeare. She comes alive when she is practising Karate. partly because of the joy of doing something so demanding well and partly because it stands between her and any future threat to make her a victim.

Her life changes when, walking off her insomnia in the middle of the night, she notices somebody using her garbage can cart to dump a body. Despite her best efforts to protect the anonymous life she's built, events and her own strong will pull Lily deeper into solving the murder, even at the cost of revealing her own past.

The plot of "Shakespeare's Landlord" works as a conventional "whodunnit" mystery. Two things raise the book well above the average for this genre. The first is that Lily Bard is a wonderful creation: strong but vulnerable, proud but wanting to stay in the background, curious but discrete, and afraid but brave. She seemed real to me. A woman to be admired, whether there is a mystery to solve or not. The second is Charlaine Harris' prose: she does not waste a word, does not indulge in extravagant descriptions, but the result is still a rich evocation of people and the town they live in.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. ( )

I think I've read this book before... it seems so darn familiar. but I'm willing to read the rest of the series, to see if the rest are as good! ( )

This book was a little strange for me. I grew to like the characters, but I felt that the story went at such a languid pace, it was almost too slow to be a mystery. Most of the time murder-mystery stories strike me as thrilling, but this book was definitely not a thriller. It did wrap up nicely and I found myself smiling or laughing at some of the interactions. Overall, I will read the next book in the series, but my expectations are low. ( )

Really enjoyed reading this mystery novel centering on a strong, intelligent main character who doesn't think about romance all day. I've begun to notice that the emotionally dead main character with a tragic past is very common in mystery novels (can't believe it took me so long to notice), but it was really well done here. While I thought the tragic past was a little over the top, the emotional consequences felt very realistic.

Because I liked the main character and loved how quick she was to point out sexism when she saw it, I forgave the eyerolling unintentional racism mentioned previously by many other goodreads reviewers. ("I can't be racist! I'm dating a guy who is 1/4 Asian! You can tell because of his inscrutable expressions!") I also forgave this because it felt very appropriate for this first person narrator living in small town Arkansas in the 90s. ( )

Really liked it. I wish she had continued on with this and the Harper Connelly series. ( )

I'm on a mystery kick and this book satisfied that. It was a quick and short read and enjoyable. ( )

Finished on the third try.

This is the only series by Charlaine Harris I haven't read. I don't think she likes many of her protagonists. I had to make myself read to the end of the book. Not sure if I will continue with this series. ( )

Shakespeare's Landlord
4 Stars

Working as a housekeeper in the sleepy town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, Lily Bard only wants a life of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, chaos and turmoil rain down when she witnesses a body disposal in the local park and nasty gifts begin arriving on her doorstep.

Not only is Charlaine Harris a new to me author (yes, I am one of the few who has yet to read Sookie Stackhouse), but cozy-mysteries are not my usual fare. Consequently, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Ms. Harris’s writing is very appealing and this was a highly enjoyable listen.

Lily is a remarkable heroine. While her independent spirt and tough-as-nails personality might not appeal to all readers, to me her resilience is admirable. Lily is a true survivor and her prickly surface conceals a deep vulnerability as well as an intense loneliness. Although she begins to come out of her shell in this book, it is obvious that it will take a great deal of time and effort for her to open up to others completely.

The secondary cast comprised of the small town residents each with their own quirks, foibles and secrets is particularly well-developed, and it is fun to follow the suspects and clues to the mystery along with Lily.

The one weak point is the romance. Don’t get me wrong, Lily definitely needs some love in her life, but her choice of beau is not all that satisfying and there are better candidates available.

On a final note, Julia Gibson's narration is very good. Each of the characters have distinct personalities and she manages to convey the small town atmosphere very well. One small nitpick is the length of the gap between passage sections.

All in all, an entertaining story with engaging characters and I look forward to continuing with the series.
( )

Just about managed to enjoy it towards the end, but definitely not enough to want to read the rest of this series. Shame. ( )

Enjoyed it. Read it all in one day. Good characters. ( )

I'm not a fan of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books because I think Sookie is an annoying character - a tease and always a damsal in distress and then argues when someone tries to save her but wonders when someone will save her. Stupid.

But not so with Ms. Lily Bard. At first I wasn't really sure about Lily Bard. She was completely not what I was expecting. I mean, who writes a series based on the extremely private life of a cleaning lady?

Lily is the complete opposite of Sookie Stackhouse, thank God! I can't even tell you too much without giving some of the story away. Needless to say, I like her. She's smart. She doesn't tease. She is who she is and that is exactly what you get, and I really like that.

I'm only giving this book three stars because I felt like Harris herself wasn't even really sure who the murderer was as she wrapped up the end of the book. The book is very short. I almost thought that the murderer wouldn't be caught at all! And then when I found out who did it and why, well, it was a bit of a let down. Maybe I was hoping it would be more sensational, but I came away thinking, Really? That's why he was murdered? Oh.

Even so, it was a good first book in a series. I wouldn't mind giving the others a chance. I like southern writers and I feel like Harris really encompassed a southern small town really well. That's what made me stick with it.

Book description: set in Shakespeare, Arkansas, a Southern town brimming with charm and a definite touch of noir. When her landlord is murdered, loner Lily Bard looks like the prime suspect. Uncovering the real killer may be the only way to prove her innocence, and Lily soon focuses on the other residents of tiny Shakespeare in her quest to expose the culprit. ( )

I'm relieved I enjoyed this one so much. Besides the Sookie novels, I haven't ventured far into other Charlaine Harris worlds. Lily Bard is an unusual character who is scarred both mentally and physically. She's an unusual main in a mystery but that only adds to the storylines. The small town element always intrigues, and with this one set in her own apartment building with all the suspects living next door, it makes it more interesting. In cozies and such, usually people randomly stumble on murders. Her doing this by being a cleaning lady is kind of ingenious since the maid is privy to all sorts of hidden aspects in their clients lives. The different personalities she faced in her work was also enriching. There may be a small love triangle in sight - I know who I'm rooting for already. The killer was a surprise and the small clue was actually there, but it's hard to catch unless you give it deeper thought than I did. ( )

No supes here, so I suspect fans of Ms. Harris's Sookie Stackhouse / TrueBlood work may be a little disappointed, as this amateur sleuth mystery seemed downright dull by comparison. I'd liken it to a Miss Marple mystery, except much less clever and enthralling than Agatha Christie would ever have allowed. ( )

This book is about a women who is hiding herself in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas. She finds the dead body of her former land lord in a park and calls the police anonymously, not wanting to blow her cover. She soon realizes the suspicions are turning to her and in order to save herself needs to find the murderer.

I have to be honest, I am not much of mystery fan. I know this, but, I do love Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly books so I decided to try this one as well. The story line was ok, but the narration and writing of the story seemed impersonal to me at times, and I just could not pick up a flow and get in to it. The book itself is small, only about 214 pages, so it didn't take too long, but actually reading it, it felt like an eternity. ( )

At first I was disappointed in this book because I have read Charlaine Harris before and I love the Sookie books. I was a bit sad that Lily's book lacks much of the humor found in the Sookie series. It is much more serious and I found Lily a bit unlikeable at first because she is trying to keep to herself and hide so much.

I liked her a bit better as the book continued on but she wasn't someone I could imagine befriending or hanging out with.

The best thing about the book was the cast of interesting secondary characters which is something I think Harris excels out in general.

The mystery was fairly good until the conclusion. Harris gave enough clues about who did it that I didn't feel like it was out of the blue but I did feel like it was disappointing and anti climactic.

I also didn't care for the love triangle in the book. I thought it felt unrealistic. Lily, who up to this point has wanted nothing to do with men suddenly is attracted to two very different ones, each with his own issues.

As a casual mystery read it was okay but it wasn't something I would go crazy to recommend to a friend either. I also feel like fans of the Sookie mysteries will not love Lily Bard. She is just a much darker and less humorous character than Sookie. ( )

First in the Lily Bard Mysteries. ( )

I enjoyed Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books and decided to try out another series of hers. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. This is the first book in the Lily Bard Mystery series.

Lily has a past that she doesn't want anyone to know about. She lives a quiet life in Shakespeare, Arkansas. She works as a cleaning lady and takes a martial arts class. Lily also has trouble sleeping at night and this is when her life changes.

There is a murder in Shakespeare and Lily is the only witness to the disposing of the body. Now she starts wondering who would commit murder. As Lily and the Chief of Police talk it out they both start to come to there own conclusions. ( )

Critically, the Mystery bookends: murder at opening, closed at ending. Nothing in between. However, Harris's thoroughly great characterisation of Lily Bard, artfully demonstrating the effects of a traumatic past - her bloody and brutal gang rape - on her present. How she was able to leave her family and move to a town where she could start afresh, no one knowing her history and treating her differently because of it. Her bravery, difficulties with PTSD, and her determination to never be found vulnerable to attack again by learning self-defense / martial arts. Dealing with the challenges in Shakespeare's Landlord made me respect Lily as a person and as a survivor of horrific circumstances that most would struggle to overcome in order to return to some semblance of normality.

That being said, I don't think I'll be continuing with this series as I've read a few reviews and found there's a love triangle - I'm not going there, sorry. ( )