The Lily Bard Mysteries Omnibus -Charlaine Harris

Today's Book is an omnibus which means a collection of stories , not short stories but full-length novels in one book. Normally this happens when they put an entire series of books into one big book.Author Charlaine Harris , most known for her Sookie Stackhouse True Blood Books also wrote a few other series , The Harper Connelly Series which involved Supernatural gifts , a bit like Sookie in a way . Her other two series the Aurora Teagarden -( which is due to have a review on my site at a later date) and the Lily Bard Mysteries, which featured detective like stories . In a way this is Book #3 of The Outdo Yourself though technically as there are 5 stories in this book it could be number #8.

Review : The Lily Bard Mysteries Omnibus - Charlaine Harris - October 2010

Ive never actually read any of the other series by Charlaine Harris except for her Harper Connelly and Sookie but when I saw this book at the library and it had all 5 of the books in the series , I thought I might give it a go and Im glad I did as I enjoyed it and am now looking forward to targeting the Aurora Teagarden Series at a later date.

Lily Bard is just like everybody else , she is a cleaner and does Karate at the local gym to keep fit in a small town called Shakespeare, Arkansas . However Lily has a secret four years ago just before coming to Shakespeare , she was kidnapped and tortured repeatedly. Shakespeare was to be a fresh start,

Shakespeares Landlord : In Shakespeares Landlord , we see Lily discovering the transportation of a body in her street and they are using her rubbish cart trolley. Lily discovers that the deceased is the Landlord Pardon Albee . the owner of the Shakespeare Apartments she lives next too, Soon we see Lily go from her day-to day job as a cleaner to trying to solve a murder. It is in this book that Lily strikes up a friends relationship with Police Chief Claude who we continue to see in other novels and a more than friends relationship with her karate sensei Marshall Sedaka. If trying to solve a murder wasn't hard enough, somebody has discovered her past and is leaving little gifts behind. Is this the work of a stalker or somebody closer to home and her life? .

Shakespeares Champion - Somebody has it against the blacks in Shakespeare and are trying to rid the town of them. After one of their Champion Weightlifters are killed and found in the gym by Bobo and Lily. Bobo is the son of the Winthrops whom Lily cleans for. Soon Lily is once again embroiled in a murder investigation, this time though she runs into a private detective "the Winthrops have hired" Jack. From Bombings to Beatings and miscommunication and mostly being in the wrong place at the wrong time , can Lily with the aid of Jack discover who is behind the White Supremacy Group and the killings ? Also we see the start of a more than friends relationship between Jack and Lily. In this book we also see the death of Lily's friend and client Mrs Hofstedder.

Shakespeares Christmas : Eager to put the past year behind her , Lily has agreed to up her business into a proper business with the help of neighbour Accountant Carlton - who is interested in more than just helping Lily, too bad she's heavily taken with Jack. Lily is also heading home for the holidays, her sister Varena whom she hasn't seen since the incident is getting married and Lily's the maid of honour. Meanwhile , Jack has been assigned a case - a kidnapped child's case in the same community as where Varena lives and her husband-to-be is a suspect. Lily is once again involved in a case and once Varena's husband to be is cleared must help Jack find the real suspect and missing child. In a town where somebody is silencing those who know the truth can Lily and Jack solve the crime , return the kid in time for Varena and Dill's wedding ?

Shakespeares Trollop - Somebody has murdered local trollop in a sense Deedra Dean , she is one of the great-grandchildren of old man Joe Prader. He is one of the oldest men in the town of Shakespeare and is related to the Albees, Winthrops and Dean's. With Pardon Albee murdered and Howie Jnr in prison , things aren't exactly looking up for this family, so when Deedra is murdered at first , is it a case of sex gone wrong or is it something deeper and has Deedra uncovered a big secret,something somebody wanted kept silent. We soon discover that Becca and Anthony Albee aren't exactly who they say they are and that Deedra had clicked . Were they involved in Deedra's death and what happens when somebody tries to burn the Prader's house down ? In this novel, we also hear wedding bells for Police Chief Claude and Doctor Carrie.

Shakespeares Counselor -  In this final novel of the Lily Bard series, we see Lily attending a rape support group , where of course another murder happens and somehow it is connected to Tasmin- the counselor. Can Lily and Jack solve the crime and what happens when it starts to look like that there is more than meets the eye with this case as a cop arrives who has been tailing Tasmin. Is this a case of playing the victim and is Tasmin suffering from pyschosis or does somebody want us to believe that. We also have the arrival of a true crime writer who seems a little too interested in this case.