Sophia Rose Reviews - Shakespeare’s Counselor by Charlaine Harris, narrated by Julia Gibson

 

Shakespeare’s Counselor by Charlaine Harris, narrated by Julia Gibson

#5 Lily Bard

Mystery

Publisher:  Recorded Books

Published:  11.13.09

Time: 7 hours 50 minutes

Rating:  4 stars

Format: audio

Source:  library

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads 

GoodReads Synopsis: 

Cleaning lady and karate expert Lily Bard is a woman with a complicated past. Doing her best to cope with her terrifying memories, she decides to join a therapy group in her adopted hometown of Shakespeare, Arkansas. As it turns out, the group members' feelings aren't the only things that need sorting out, as they assemble for a session only to find a woman dead, left on display as some kind of twisted message.

Lily soon finds herself embroiled in the murder and its aftermath. Some of her own terrible secrets have been dredged up, and she may not be able to rest until she can untangle the 'who' and the 'why' of this shocking crime. But can she do so before the killer strikes again - and before her own nightmares send her over the edge?

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

For the final book in the series, Lily Bard shows just how far she has come from that cold, detached and isolated person she was in book one.  She’s in a committed relationship, part of a strong circle of friends, and taking an interest in keeping her community safe through her investigations on the side.  But, there’s one step she never took when recovering from her past experience… counseling and therapy groups.  Something happens that makes her realize it is time so she signs up for the local rape recovery therapy group.  But, because its Lily, of course a murder happens.

 

Shakespeare’s Counselor is fifth and the final of the Lily Bard mystery series that have standalone mysteries, but a strong connection of character and relationship development throughout the series.

 

I started the series with a strong connection to Lily and cheered her on as she showed her inner strength as she faced down her past and faced down some dark elements in the new small town she lives in.  I came to love this series and really wish there had been more entries.  But, seeing Lily volunteer for therapy did make for a triumphant place to finish.

 

Lily not only helps solve the mystery of the murderous stalker of her therapy group counselor and a few other related minor mysteries, but personal challenges come up that she had to power through: an ex of Jack’s, temptation of Bobo, and, the biggie, a miscarriage.  That last took me by surprise so fair warning to others who might be affected by that element.  In fact, the mystery and Lily’s last stages of personal growth had equal page time.

 

Julia Gibson was a fab series narrator and I really settled into her style of narration and way of doing the characters’ voices.  I will definitely listen to more of her audio work in future.

 

All in all, a satisfying listen.  An emotionally-engaging, a little dark, but clever murder mystery I can definitely recommend.

Author Bio:

Two thousand twenty-three will mark Charlaine’s forty-second year as a published writer. She has written two stand-alones, and her series include the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, the Lily Bard mysteries, the Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasies, the Harper Connelly urban fantasies, the Midnight, Texas novels, the Cemetery Girl graphic novels (with Christopher Golden), and the Gunnie Rose books, set in an alternate history America. Charlaine has also written many short stories, and together with Toni L.P. Kelner she edited seven themed anthologies (and had great fun). Her books have sold over 39 million copies worldwide.

The television series “True Blood” was based on Charlaine’s Sookie Stackhouse novels. Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is still showing a series of movies created about the Aurora Teagarden character, and for two seasons “Midnight, Texas” was on the air. Two of her other series are in production.

Charlaine belongs to several professional organizations and is an avid reader. She and her husband live on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River with their rescue dogs. Charlaine has the joy of being a grandmother, and she attends the Episcopalian church.

Website:  https://charlaineharris.com/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose