Rating: Good
Source: NetGalley
Description: In the latest installment of the #1 New York Times Bestselling Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden series, Robin and Aurora have finally begun their adventure in parenting. With newborn Sophie proving to be quite a handful, Roe's mother pays for a partially trained nurse, Virginia Mitchell, to come help the new parents for a few weeks. Virginia proves to be especially helpful when Robin has to leave town for work and Roe is struck with a bad case of the flu.One particularly stormy night, Roe wakes to hear her daughter crying and Virginia nowhere to be found. Roe's brother Philip helps her search the house and they happen upon a body outside... but it isn't Virginia's. Now, not only does she have a newborn to care for and a vulnerable new marriage to nurture, Roe also has to contend with a new puzzle - who is this mystery woman dead in their backyard, and what happened to Virginia? This heart-pounding and exciting next installment of the Aurora Teagarden series will leave fans happy and hungry for more.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: I love this mystery series and was so excited to see it was back last year.
My Impression: I'm a little biased because I love these characters. I've been with Aurora through a strange inheritance, a few failed relationships, and a whole bunch of other things. So I love seeing her becoming a mom, being happy with Robin, and with a good relationship with Phillip, her half-brother. I also loved the actual mystery here. Where did the babysitter go and just who is the dead woman in the backyard? There were several scenes in this one that just gave me chills. I was wrapped up in the mystery right from the start and didn't want to put it down.
However, there were a few flaws. I mentioned I'd been a reader of the series from the beginning but the previous book came out last year and the one before that came out almost ten years ago or so. The problem is that the book references a few events and characters from long ago. And it's not a "this character from book 3 was at the grocery store and we said hello" kind of mention. It's important to the mystery. I found myself clutching at shadows trying to remember things that had happened years ago which detracted from my reading experience. I'm not sure what it would be like reading this one if you were completely new to the series.
So while this isn't my favorite in the series it was still a lot of fun. Catching up with Aurora, Robin, and Phillip and the side characters is like catching up with old friends.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I'm already waiting for the next book and would love to reread this series.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy mysteries this is a great series. While most mysteries can be read at any order this series is one you might want to start at the beginning with. There is a lot of character development.
I haven't read any of this series but I did read almost all of the Sookie Stackhouse books by this author. I liked those so I imagine I would like the writing style for Aurora Teagarden.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your nice comment on my post about the Insoector Banks series!
Good review, Katherine! I haven't read any of Harris's books yet, but this sounds like a better series for me to start with than the Sookie Stackhouse series. You make it sound quite appealing! But I'll take your implied advice if and when I do read this series, and start at the beginning. :-)
ReplyDeletePity about that ten year gap, but that said while I haven't read this series I can see how a beloved series additional book would be so welcome. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI need to read this series. I loved the Sookie books.
ReplyDeleteI love this series!! I'vd enjoyed the ones I've read this far. Thanks for reviewing this one.
ReplyDeleteI just downloaded this book because I love the series on Hallmark. Now that you mention the need to know details from past books, I'm a little concerned about going into this one "cold." Would watching the TV series help?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I love the characters, too.
I read a few of these books years and years ago. Before I started blogging. And I definitely enjoyed them. I'm glad you enjoyed this, even if it wasn't flawless.
ReplyDeleteI read a few books in this series years ago. I remember very little of it so I couldn't imagine having one of those characters pop up in the story. Maybe I will get back to it someday. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI'm delighted to see this series start up again and I really enjoyed reading these some years ago. Thank you for sharing, Katherine:)
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to starting this series finally! Hopefully I won't have a similar problem since so much time won't have passed between books when I get to it. Hopefully. :-)
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