The Lily Bard Mysteries Omnibus

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If you can stomach or ignore the more distasteful elements of the Lily Bard Mysteries, then you will probably enjoy the books. Harris's writing is not bad. There's no real surprises in plot. But I don't think that's the point of this style of mystery. If you want intelligent writing, read some one else Although I am not entirely sure what the point is other than to entertain, I personally, am not entertained by Lily Bard. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.

To view it, click here. This review is comprised of my reviews from the five books in this anthology, so it's long and a bit patchy. I probably should have rewritten it into a more coherent single piece, but frankly I've spent enough time on this series, and am more than ready to move on. I want to like Lily Bard. I've tried so damn hard. I want to like her because I like - maybe even love - Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Con This review is comprised of my reviews from the five books in this anthology, so it's long and a bit patchy.

I want to like her because I like - maybe even love - Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly, and can just about tolerate Aurora Teagarden. I want to like her because she's smart and strong and generally badass. I want to like her because she's a fellow survivor of terrible things. I'm on my third reading of the Lily Bard Mysteries in the last five years, and I think this is going to have to be my last attempt with Lily, because her books make me moody and miserable.

It's not the fact that they're about murder, or even the awful things that haunt Lily's past, so similar to my own. It's such a loaded word, and used far too often to describe women who are strong and don't take crap from people. But honestly, Lily's kind of a bitch. I was discussing this with a friend, and my friend said to me, "Don't you think you'd be a bitch if the stuff that happened to Lily happened to you?

Not identical, of course. My scars are mostly on the inside of my body, fusing my organs together, though I have some round puncture and burn marks on my breasts and stomach and back and arms. And I didn't kill the man who hurt me, or have to live with his rotting corpse for several days, mercifully. But the rest of Lily's story is very much like my own, from the things that were done to me to the way my family couldn't handle it and reacted in various unhelpful ways, from weeping and wailing, to trying to brush it off and telling me to pick myself up and move on.

There are some ways in which I empathise so much with Lily. Her hypervigilance, her reluctance to get involved with men, her deliberate distance from her family and her old life, her aloofness and lack of friends, her need for everything to be efficient and streamlined - these are all things that I know intimately. I understand so many of Lily's quirks and personality traits, because I've lived them.

What I don't understand about Lily is her impatience and her superiority. Where my own experiences made me more empathetic and more understanding - and forgiving - of the weaknesses that all humans have, Lily seems to have gone the other direction, to the point of looking down her nose at most of the people she interacts with. For me, this makes her a decidedly uncomfortable protagonist.

There are things that I enjoyed about this book. I like Marshall, and wish that she would continue her relationship with him throughout the series. The mystery kept my attention, and I didn't remember who the killer was. And parts of Lily I find attractive, particularly her intelligence and common sense, which a lot of heroines in this type of book seem to lack. Yeah, Roe Teagarden - I'm looking at you. I'll certainly continue the series, since I have all five books in a hardback anthology, and I have hopes that Lily will grow and smooth out a bit.

Though I have read the books on two other occasions, the last time was in early and I don't remember them well. Yet I do think this will probably be my last time with Lily, which is a shame, since I really enjoyed the Harper Connelly quartet, and about half of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Win some, lose some. Lily is much more likeable - while she still has sharp edges, she says far fewer mean things about people - and actually has a few friends. I'm particularly fond of her relationship with young Bobo, and I think it's a shame that she won't end up with him, as he interests me far more than Jack.

Jack is one of those characters who I feel I should like - sexy bad boy! Still, the plot of this second book is far more engaging, and Harris' portrayal of racial strife in a small southern town is, to this English girl, both heartbreaking and eye-opening. I'm still not especially enamoured of Lily and the series in general, but I'm a bigger fan than I was after Shakespeare's Landlord. In this one, Lily has to return to her hometown for her sister's wedding, and Jack ends up in the same town, working on the case of a kidnapped child. Although it took a bit of effort to suspend my disbelief that Jack would, by sheer coincidence, end up working a case in Lily's hometown, I thought that the mystery was the best in the series so far.

I couldn't work out which child was the kidnapped girl, nor who was responsible for the murders that were a failed attempt at covering up the kidnapping. I also liked seeing a different, softer side of Lily that came out around her family, though I still find her a bit too snobby and cold for my taste. I'm starting to warm to both Lily and Jack, although their relationship seems sort of insta-love-ish, and not in a believable way.

The Lily Bard Mysteries Omnibus: leondumoulin.nl: Books

Funny that I'm a fan of romance novels in general, yet the relationship between Lily and Jack strikes me as unlikely. Perhaps it'll grow on me during the last two books. Lily's opinions of Deedra have always bothered me, but they reach fairly grotesque heights in this book, with Lily essentially blaming Deedra for her own murder. Two things saved the book from being totally blah for me: Harris is such an eclectic writer, flitting around from family tragedy to comedy to cheerful coziness to supernatural erotica, that I think of her as being fairly lightweight and funny - until I read a scene like this one that reminds me, damn, that woman can really write horror.

Still, this was not an enjoyable book for me, and Lily really disgusted me in this one. Lily seems to have backslid a lot here - after growing as a character throughout the last few books, and healing somewhat, her fear and anger has suddenly taken a turn for the worse.

It's not unusual for people to have relapses after trauma, but Lily's anger seems to go completely out of control in this series finale. She outright admits that she despises all men except, I assume, Jack , which saddens me after seeing her become friends with Bobo, Claude, Marshall and Raphael Roundtree in previous books. Previously, Lily has aggravated and sometimes disgusted me; in this book she actually frightens me.

She and I share a lot of bad experiences, and in some way, the deterioration of her emotional state feels like it casts aspersions on my own emotional stability. Unlike the other books, I also found the plot of this one to be fairly nonsensical. I couldn't keep up with the twists, and eventually just shrugged and gave up on analysing the villains motivations.

In addition, I was disappointed that we didn't get any real ending as far as the rest of the characters mostly Alicia and the women in Lily's group were concerned. I'd have liked some closure; some sense that life had improved. Harris is always kind of hit-or-miss for me - my ratings for the Sookie books were all over the place - but I'm a bit sad that the ending to this series wasn't better.

I did enjoy books 2 and 3, but I won't be visiting with Lily again. I might, however, visit Bobo my honey-love! Mar 13, Larissa rated it it was amazing Shelves: Lily Bard is trying to keep a low profile, stay invisible, but she soon learns that is an impossibility in a small town. With a shattered past and a fear of discovery, the last thing Lily wanted was to be implicated in a murder, however she reluctantly finds that if she is to prove her innocence she is going to have to solve this murder on her own.

But in retrospect the death of Shakespeare's landlord could have been the best thing to ever happen to Lily. Shakespeare's Cham Shakespeare's Landlord. When Lily unwittingly steps in to break it up a public fight, she also puts herself in the middle of the towns growing tensions. Not long after she discovers a murder victim. When all she wanted was to be left in quiet, she is again drawn into the lives of those in this small town discovering she is losing more friends then she realised she ever had. If Lily is to survive this race war with her life she is going to have to get to the bottom of this murder.

Christmas isn't Christmas without family, food and a murder or two. As Lily heads home for the holidays, and also for her sisters wedding, Lily is facing up to some old demons. However someone has kidnapped a child and is desperate enough to kill any who would dare take that child from them. Unavoidably Lily becomes involved, but this time she is not alone. With Jack by her side Lily will uncover a devastating truth and discover a new side of herself. When Lily discovers the body of the town trollop in a compromising position she, as with everyone else in town, must assume that the murderer is one of her lovers.

Meaning that just about every man in town is a suspect. However as the clues are gathered Lily must admit that things are not adding up. But in a case where little makes sense and where one death leads to another, discovering the truth will not be easy. The time has come for Lily to face her past if she is to embrace her future. Very reluctant to join but determined to do so, Lily begins attending meetings for rape survivors.

Shakespeares Christmas A Lily Bard Mystery Lily Bard Mysteries

Unfortunately after only a few weeks someone has decided to send a message to her group in the form of a murdered rape victim. As the bodies pile up in this dangerous game of cat and mouse, Lily experiences great loss, abuse of her trust and ultimately a new future. Lily Bard Mysteries Omnibus is a great series of Who-Done-It tales centered around a strong, independent, intelligent women with a dark past and no future. Written without any supernatural influence by a skilled author of the genre, these in-depth and well thought out murder mysteries will keep you guessing just as much its well developed and colourful characters will keep you entertained.

Aug 31, Lizzie Hayes rated it it was amazing. I just loved it. Lily Bard lives in the town of Shakespeare. When looking for somewhere to live she fixed on this town purely because of its name. Lily Bard is a survivor, a survivor of a horrific event. Although from a loving family she just could not handle the knowledge that everyone where she had been brought up knew what had happened to her, and so she moves to somewhere, new and when people found out about her she moves again — but for now she is in Shakespeare.

She works as a cleaning lady and that again gives her the freedom to work the hours she wants, where she wants, and on her own. There are five books in this omnibus and I am glad that I read them one after the other for it has been an amazing journey with Lily.

Her journey has been a painful one. She has taken steps to never again be as vulnerable as she was. True, whatever we do we cannot always be totally safe but she has tried to stack the odds in her favour. Whilst the mysteries are complex, intriguing and engaging, the strength of this volume of stories is in the journey of Lily Bard. Read it for yourself. Jul 23, B. Deeks rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: What appealed to me was that it placed a dark, trou I came across the first couple of books in this series at a second hand book store and was intrigued by the blurb, and of course the author's name.

I would recommend this series to anyone who likes mystery with a little something extra. Jan 19, Goldie rated it it was amazing. Oh, yet another of Harris' heroines that are just so engaging. It's taken me quite a while to finish this omnibus - as it is so big - and I had to have a few breaks in between books. But overall, I just loved it. Harris invokes the reader to feel empathetic towards Lily, but not pity her. She worked her way th Oh, yet another of Harris' heroines that are just so engaging.

She worked her way through her horrible situation and I feel as though it makes the reader admire her. Overall, I'd love to see more of Lily Bard. There are a few loose ends that I've like to see wrapped up, but I'm happy either way! Sep 24, Lilie rated it it was amazing. View all 4 comments. A really quick read. But be warned — there is no paranormal element in those books at all. Well, maybe except keeping shoe polish in the linen closet… ;-. And before her nightmares send her over the edge?

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It also stoked a hunger that will never die A hunger to know what happened next. With characters arranged alphabetically - from the Ancient Pythoness to Bethany Zanelli - bestselling author Charlaine Harris takes fans into the future of their favourite residents of Bon Temps and environs. You'll learn how Michele and Jason's marriage fared, what happened to Sookie's cousin Hunter, and whether Tara and JB's twins grew up to be solid citizens. This coda provides the answers to your lingering questions - including details of Sookie's own happily-ever-after The book will feature extensive interior art by acclaimed Sookie artist Lisa Desimini, including a Sookieverse Alphabet, colour endpapers, and several full-page black and white interior illustrations.

A mystery series from the 1. All she wants is to be left alone - but that becomes impossible when a movie company arrives in Lawrenceton. They've come to make a film of a book written by her one-time friend Robin Crusoe. A book that detailed their shared investigation of a series of murders that occurred years before. The locals are delighted, but Roe is not. And Robin is just beginning to win her over when the lead actress - who is playing Roe - is killed. Once again, the two of them join forces to thwart a killer - not knowing that Roe is the next target Our Books See all Books.

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Feature book: The Lily Bard Mysteries Omnibus

Lily Bard just wanted to start life over - but life had different ideas. A thrilling crime series from an international bestseller. Before long, everyone is going to know Lily Bard's name. Gollancz Dark Forge Miles Cameron. Gollancz Empress of all Seasons Emiko Jean. Gollancz Cold Iron Miles Cameron. Lily Bard's dramatic history makes her an interesting character. The plots aren't necessarily the best, but that doesn't really matter. To me, the most interesting aspect of these stories, is to see how Lily deals with her past, and how her background influences every relationship she forms.

I read this first because I've read other Charlaine Harris books and the second time because of the strong resilient character Lily Bard a women with a past living quietly, privately in a small town dealing with her own personal demons, being caught up reluctantly in the lives and deaths of those she works for. Wish there were more Lily books but the last book pretty much wrapped her future life with a bow.

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