These Lily Bard novels stand out among traditional cozy mysteries because of the noirish spin Harris puts on the seemingly typical charming southern town of Shakespeare, AR, on her heroine. Lily Bard makes a compelling amateur sleuth. Here she heads home to Bartley, AR, for her sister Varenas Christmas wedding. But soon after she arrives, Lilys private-detective boyfriend shows up too: hes investigating a 4-year-old unsolved kidnapping. Lily cant help but get involved when she discovers that the case hits dangerously close to home – for Varenas new husband is the widowed father of a girl bearing a remarkable resemblance to the vanished child.

Cleaning woman and karate expert Lily Bard is a woman with a complicated past. Trying her best to cope with her terrifying memories and horrible nightmares, she decides to join a weekly group therapy session in her hometown of Shakespeare, Arkansas. At first, Lily can hardly believe the number of her fellow Shakespeareans that share her life experiences.As it turns out, the group members' feelings aren't the only things that need sorting out – they assemble for a session and find a woman dead, killed in bone-chilling fashion and deliberately left on display to send a twisted message. Who would commit such horrendous crime, and who is the intended recipient of the message?Before long, Lily becomes embroiled in this disturbing murder and its aftermath, one in which the brutal killer's motives are entirely unclear. The truth is, the situation has dredged up more than a few of her own terrible secrets, and she may not be able to rest until she can untangle the who and why of this terrible crime. But can she accomplish this before the killer strikes again, and before her nightmares send her over the edge? Shakespeare's Counselor is the most complex and absorbing installment yet in Charlaine Harris's engaging, original, and more than slightly dark mystery series.

Lily Bard is a loner. Fiercely protective of her independence, she concentrates on her karate skills and her work as the proprietor of a cleaning and errand-running service, and pays little attention to the town around her. When her landlord is murdered, though, she looks like the prime suspect. Uncovering the real killer may be the only way to prove her innocence, and Lily realizes that she must focus on the other residents of tiny Shakespeare. Her job gives her easy access to people's private lives, and she begins to snoop, finding plenty of skeleton-filled closets, and exposing herself to the unwanted attentions of a murderer.

Welcome back to Shakespeare – a charming Arkansas town with endless back roads, an eclectic mix of residents, and a dollop of noir. Featuring cleaning woman/karate expert Lily Bard." "Lily discovers lifelong Shakespeare resident Deedra Dean murdered inside a car parked in a woodsy area outside town. Determined not to get involved, Lily wants to leave the police work to Sheriff Marta Schuster and her team of deputies, and concentrate on cleaning, high kicks, and her boyfriend Jack's impending visit. But when Deedra's notoriously promiscuous lifestyle provides an extensive list of suspects but very few clues, Lily has no choice but to resume the role of amateur detective and join the investigation.

Today's hottest urban fantasy authors come together in this delicious brew that crackles and boils over with tales of powerful witches and dark magic!In Charlaine Harris' 'Bacon, a beautiful vampire joins forces with a witch from an ancient line to find out who killed her beloved husband. In 'Seeing Eye' by Patricia Briggs, a blind witch helps sexy werewolf Tom Franklin find his missing brother — and helps him in more ways than either of them ever suspected. And in Jim Butcher's 'Last Call, wizard Harry Dresden takes on the darkest of dark powers — the ones who dare to mess with this favorite beer.For anyone who's ever wondered what lies beyond the limits of reality, who's imagined the secret spaces where witches wield fearsome magic, come and drink deep. Let yourself fall under the spell of this bewitching collection!

Now best known for her New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse novels, Charlaine Harris hit "a home run the first time out" (Birmingham News) with the story of a murder that embroils a small-town reporter in mystery that hits close to home…Catherine Linton has returned to her hometown of Lowfield, Mississippi, unconvinced that the death of her parents in a car crash six months earlier was an accident. And her suspicions are confirmed when she stumbles upon the dead and beaten body of her doctor-father's longtime nurse. There are secrets being kept in Lowfield. And the town where Catherine grew up may be the same place where she is sent to her grave…

While "Roe" Teagarden thought she found true happiness in her marriage to rich businessman Martin Bartell, she comes to realize that his past is hardly an open book to her. After moving into a house where the previous tenants, the Juliuses, had disappeared six years earlier, Roe decides to solve the case. Her investigation proffers some potentially dangerous secrets regarding the Juliuses-and her husband.

Armed with a hefty inheritance, Aurora "Roe" Teagarden is embarking on a new career in real estate. But her first showing is murder, when the elegant master bedroom reveals the body of a real-estate broker. When a second body appears at her next showing, Roe realizes that her new career may suddenly come to a dead end.

Dzięki wynalezionej w japońskim laboratorium syntetycznej krwi oraz napojowi z jej ekstraktem o nazwie Tru: Blood, w ciągu zaledwie jednej nocy wampiry z legendarnych potworów przeistoczyły się w przykładnych obywateli. I chociaż ludzie nie figurują już w ich jadłospisie, społeczeństwo niepokoi się, co stanie się, gdy wampiry opuszczą mroczne kryjówki.Pewnego dnia Sookie znajduje na parkingu ciało zamordowanego kucharza z baru, w którym pracuje. Jakby tego było mało, zostaje śmiertelnie poraniona i otruta przez tajemnicza postać z mitów greckich. Na szczęście, pewne przyjacielsko usposobione wampiry wysysają jej zatrutą krew. Kiedy proszą ja o przysługę, Sookie wdzięczna za uratowanie życia nie odmawia. Wkrótce wykorzystuje swoje telepatyczne zdolności aby znaleźć wskazówkę co do zaginięcia pewnego wampira. Wkrótce, jednak Sookie zaczyna żałować swej decyzji…

El “Asesinato del Mes” de repente adquirió una dimensión muy violenta y… realCada mes, Real Murders, una asociación de aficionados al crimen de Lawrenceton, Georgia, se reúne para discutir sobre un asesinato famoso. Sus miembros son de lo más excéntrico: Gifford Doakes, el especialista en masacres; Jane Engle, amante de las historias de terror victorianas; Perry Allison, fan de Ted Bundy…Durante la noche de la última reunión, la bibliotecaria local, Aurora «Roe» Teagarden, descubrió el cuerpo mutilado de Mamie Wright en la cocina de la sede del club. Está segura de que el asesino pertenece a la asociación, ya que el crimen guarda un parecido escalofriante con el Asesinato del Mes.Y como quiera que después tuvieron lugar otros asesinatos de imitación, el único móvil parece un aterrador y extraño sentido de la diversión…

El “Asesinato del Mes” de repente adquirió una dimensión muy violenta y… realCada mes, Real Murders, una asociación de aficionados al crimen de Lawrenceton, Georgia, se reúne para discutir sobre un asesinato famoso. Sus miembros son de lo más excéntrico: Gifford Doakes, el especialista en masacres; Jane Engle, amante de las historias de terror victorianas; Perry Allison, fan de Ted Bundy…Durante la noche de la última reunión, la bibliotecaria local, Aurora «Roe» Teagarden, descubrió el cuerpo mutilado de Mamie Wright en la cocina de la sede del club. Está segura de que el asesino pertenece a la asociación, ya que el crimen guarda un parecido escalofriante con el Asesinato del Mes.Y como quiera que después tuvieron lugar otros asesinatos de imitación, el único móvil parece un aterrador y extraño sentido de la diversión…

The editors of Many Bloody Returns deliver the perfect howl-iday gift, with new tales from Patricia Briggs, Carrie Vaughn, and many more.New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn — along with eleven other masters of the genre — offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh variation on the concept that worked so well with birthdays and vampires in Many Bloody Returns.The holidays can bring out the beast in anyone. They are particularly hard for lycanthropes. Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner have harvested the scariest, funniest and saddest werewolf tales by an outstanding pack of authors, best read by the light of a full moon with a silver bullet close at hand.Whether wolfing down a holiday feast (use your imagination) or craving some hair of the dog on New Year's morning, the werewolves in these frighteningly original stories will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants off readers who love a little wolfsbane with their mistletoe.