The Barnes & Noble Review
Welcome back to Shakespeare, a charming little place in rural Arkansas filled with eccentric characters, small-town secrets, and captivating criminal conundrums. For more than four years now, Lily Bard has made her home in Shakespeare, cleaning houses for a living and honing her fighting skills at the local karate dojo. It hasn't been easy for Lily to put her tragic past behind her, but after years of prickly isolation she's finally beginning to build some real relationships. She has a lover she adores and friends who are more than sparring partners.
Then one day, while walking down an unmarked road, an unexpected flash of bright red catches her eye, and Lily immediately senses that something is very wrong. Her worst fears come to pass when the flash of red turns out to be a car holding the naked remains of Deedra Dean, one of Lily's cleaning clients and a lifelong Shakespeare resident with a well-earned reputation for cheerful amateur promiscuity.
Cleaning up houses is Lily's job, and cleaning up crime is a matter for the police -- especially in when the list of suspects is long and evidence is in short supply. But Shakespeare is a small town. The police have questions, Lily's friends have concerns, and Deedra's mother hires Lily to sort through her daughter's belongings. Among the detritus of the dead girl's life, Lily finds not only proof of Deedra's secret sins but dangerous evidence of darker crimes. Charlaine Harris (who is also the author of the popular Aurora Teagarden mysteries) is sure to captivate readers with this fourth cleverly crafted and compelling Lily Bard adventure. Sue Stone
