Product Description

Shakespeare, Arkansas, is home to endless back roads, historic buildings, colorful residents--and the occasional murder. It is also home to Lily Bard, the local karate expert/cleaning woman with a particular knack for finding skeletons in closets.

But when the local woman of ill repute is found murdered, being familiar with her dirty laundry could make Lily the next Shakespearean to die.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10863 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-04
• Released on: 2004-05-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 194 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425196991
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
"There's nothing more revealing about people than the mess they leave for someone else," says Lily Bard, who has the perfect job for an amateur sleuth—she's a cleaning lady in the small, close-knit town of Shakespeare, Ark. A detached and wary observer of others, Lily reluctantly finds herself investigating the murder of one of her employers, Deedra Dean, in her latest engaging outing (after 1998's Shakespeare's Christmas). It's Lily's misfortune to discover Deedra's violated body in her car on a deserted road, the apparent victim of a tryst gone sour. For Lily, who already knows more than she wants about the promiscuous young woman's habits, the details don't add up. Since many of her other clients are related to Deedra, Lily endures their catty, sometimes malicious gossip, but when she helps Deedra's mother clean out the dead woman's apartment, she quietly disposes of Deedra's collection of compromising photos and videos. The nature of the crime forces Lily to deal with her own scars, legacies of the brutal abduction and rape in Memphis that sent her scrambling for the tranquil environs of Shakespeare. A wise, self-counseled soul, as well as a skilled karate student and fitness buff, Lily is just foolhardy enough to charge into a burning house to save a frail, mean old man. Indeed, Lily has such an engaging voice, full of pain and redemption, that the collecting of clues and the unfolding of the crime take a back seat to her personal story. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Lily Bard studies the minutiae of the people whose houses she cleans in Shakespeare, Arkansas. A horrific episode in her own past keeps her wary and private, so she is even more than normally chastened by finding the body of Deedra Dean, naked and violated, in a car in the woods. Deedra was free with herself, and nearly every male in Shakespeare had taken from her, but it's too easy to focus on her taste for male companionship in seeking her murderer, especially when rumors of videotapes and sex toys surface. Lily, meanwhile, is trying to resolve not only Deedra's death but also its resonance in her own psyche and her need, barely acknowledged but deep as water, for Jack, the man in her life. Lily is a terrific character with dark shadings and stark fears, but learning strength and cleaving to it. A supporting cast of quirky characters fully rendered in quick strokes will hold readers as surely as the complex resolution in this cozy on the bleeding edge of noir. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Charlaine Harris is also the author of the acclaimed Aurora Teagarden mystery series, most recently A Fool and His Honey. Born in Mississippi, she now lives in Magnolia, Arkansas.

Customer Reviews

An engrosing story
Cleaning lady Lily Bard appears for the 4th time in SHAKESPEARE'S TROLLOP. This time the murder victim is Deedra, the local "bad girl" who was best known for her promiscuity. Nearly every male in town is a suspect, but in spite of having a ton of suspects to question, the police can't figure out the killer's identity.

Deedra's mother, Lacey, asks Lily to help her dispose of Deedra's belongings, and Lily unintentionally learns more about the victim's personal life than she wants to know. Without actually snooping or interrogating suspects, Lily manages to find the vital clue that exposes whodunit. I was kept guessing right to the surprise ending.

Lily is a difficult character. Herself the victim of rape and attempted murder, she has slowly worked out her anger and is just starting to get on with a more normal life. Always an arresting personality, she has become more likeable with each book. In SHAKESPEARE'S TROLLOP, Lily shows her more human side, and I was pleased to see her developing relationship with Jack. I very much look forward to the next in this thought-provoking series.

Lily Matures!
Lily Bard, house cleaning extraordinaire, returns to us again with a more mature story then the previous ones in this series. While murder is the topic, the real story here is that Lily advances greatly. I won't blow the maturity issue but I do think this is one of the best books in the series. I am definitely looking forward to the next one to see just how one of my favorite characters continues to grow and become comfortable with her past. I only wish she cleaned in my area!

Lily Bard
In SHAKESPEARE'S TROLLOP, we meet Lily Bard for the fourth time. Lily, housecleaner, karate expert, rape and tortue victim, continues to deal with her past while dealing with the present--people who say, "Oh, you're THAT person". When Lily finds a body, she does what she does with the rest of her life, she quietly goes about her business, keeping her eyes and ears open. In this book, Lily is more personable, more likeable and just as real as ever. I highly recommend this book and sincerely hope that Charlaine Harris can give us another "Lily Bard" as soon as possible!