This was a fast read and I liked it much better than the previous two books. Despite some humorous moments, I found "A Fool and His Honey" to be a little darker than the other books, even darker than "Real Murders". For me, this is more of a 3 1/2 stars but I couldn't go to 4. The reason why is that I figured out who the culprit is before Aurora did. I think even Martin figured it out before she did although he doesn't tell her directly...and he didn't have the advantage of the conversation that gives it away. (view spoiler)[Roe discovers Murphy's Law is certainly in effect on the same day that she and Martin are engaged to have dinner at the mayor home. Darius Quartermain freaks out while delivering a supply of firewood, a victim of someone mixing drugs in with his acetaminophen. Then Martin's niece Regina shows up with an infant in tow. Unable to cancel their social engagement, they return later that evening to find Regina gone, her husband Craig dead on the stairs to the garage apartment, and the baby hidden under a bed. The next morning brings news that her step-father John Queensland also suffered a heart attack the previous evening and a stranger slept in their house unnoticed the night before.Roe is completely clueless as to how to care for a baby. She obviously never babysat a child under 2 and has no experience of children other than the reading time at the library; plus her own self-centeredness and a certain amount of bitterness about her own infertility has resulted in not wanting to hear about others' pregnancies and parenting experiences. While some of the reviewers in their criticism suggest that no one is that clueless, had Roe been a childless man, he would have been forgiven his ignorance (i.e. "Three Men and a Baby"). [I don't know how to prepare formula.] Martin decides that they will travel with the baby and Rory (the uninvited guest) back to Corinth instead of turning Rory into the local authorities. Martin hopes to get more information from him to clear Regina of the murder as well as turn the baby over to Craig's foster family. When they get there, it seems no one - Martin's ex-wife Cindy nor the Granberrys (Craig and Regina's neighbors) - in Corinth knew that Regina was pregnant, leading Martin and Roe to wonder if the baby was even Regina's. Rory has made himself scarce so that avenue of inquiry has dried up. However, after a snow and more threatening, while Martin is in town with old friend Karl to get a snow-worthy vehicle, Roe discovers signs that someone had been snooping around the farmhouse the night before. She asks Mrs. Granberry to come stay with her for a while. Shortly after Martin's return, Mr. Granberry arrives as do Cindy and her boyfriend Dennis with Rory in tow. Karl shows up just before the Granberrys and Cindy and Dennis all head for home. Roe is kind of fed up so she leaves in search of the midwife who supposedly delivered Regina's baby only to discover that all of her records had been destroyed in a fire two days earlier. Upon her return, all hell breaks loose. Rory is killed and Karl and Martin are injured. They discover the phone line has been cut and two tires on the jeep have been cut. Martin instructs Roe to take the baby and find Karl's jeep hidden in a nearby copse and head to town. She gets to the jeep but is intercepted before she can get to town for help. Roe resists and earns a concussion. She wakes up in a basement with Regina. Worried sick about Martin and getting him help, she plans an escape. Will she be able to get to Martin in time? (hide spoiler)]
Local, part-time Librarian Aurora Teagarden is about to be pulled into a mystery that is almost too close to home. In fact, that is where the adventure starts. With winter setting in, Roe and her husband Martin have ordered some wood. The gentleman who was hired to bring in the wood seems to totally go nuts while doing so. After being led away by the police, it becomes clear that someone spiked his asprin.And that is just the start of it. After Martin heads into work to do a couple of things before they have to go to a business dinner, Roe is visited by Regina, Martin's niece. Regina comes with a little surprise ... a baby, and the little one is hers. After settling Regina and the newborn in the apartment over the garage, Martin and Roe head off to their dinner and return to an even more bizarre scene than the one that took place earlier. Regina is missing, the baby's father Craig is lying dead on the stairs to the apartment after getting hit by an axe, and the baby, named Hayden, is all alone under a bed in the apartment.Roe, who has been wanting to have a child for years and is unable to, now finds herself responsible for taking care of little Hayden while also trying to figure out what really happened with Martin's family. Their only clue walks out of their house a short time after they have come home. Rory Brown comes out in a daze. It turns out that he is a friend of Craig and Regina, and he clearly knows more than he is willing to say.The three of them end up heading north to Martin's family farm with the hopes of finding out some information that might have caused all of this trouble. They find more than they could have ever expected after some money turns up in Hayden's diaper bag.Upon arriving in Martin's hometown, readers are introduced to a whole new set of country characters. All of them seem to have a history with Martin and his family. In fact, that proves to be even more so than it seems at first glance.The story builds into an exciting conclusion on a cold, dark, and wintry night that uncovers all the secrets that everyone needs to know to know what really happened to Regina, Craig, and poor little baby Hayden. It won't come to a conclusion without more death and danger for everyone involved.To this day, I am not quite sure why this series has been overlooked until Harris' recent super-success with the Sookie Stackhouse series. Roe is an interesting character, though I have to admit that I am not a fan of her husband Martin. I keep wanting her to seek out her beau, an Atlanta horror writer, from the first book. With that said, the mysteries and Roe's relating adventures rarely disappoint. She would give Jessica Fletcher, from Murder She Wrote a run for her money. This sixth volume in the series doesn't disappoint.
What do You think about A Fool And His Honey (2001)?
Este libro fue muy sorprendente, amé la forma de escribir de Charlaine y en este momento acabo de ser trolleado con que acabo de leer el sexto libro de una saga sin haber leído los cinco anteriores. Aunque creo que no importa si no lo hice, porque en realidad creo que no te spoileas de nada importante con hacerlo, la verdad a mi no me paso. En fin este libro tuvo una muy elaboración, no me aburría porque el avance estaba muy bien para mi gusto y el final me dejó completamente shockeado y lo que deseo es continuar con las historias de Roe y seguir a Charlaine en sus otras historias.
—Elfren Goicochea
Warning: This review contains spoilers for this and the previous book in the series, Dead Over Heels.Dead Over Heels was definitely not one of my favorites in this series. The mystery seems contrived--a body is pushed out of a plane to land in Roe's yard, and the fact that a couple of murders and assaults have arisen from someone's unrequited love for Roe feels artificial. Roe's complete obliviousness, meanwhile, is not at all Roe-like. A whole array of core characters have emerged out of Roe's new married life, and most of them seem strange and artificial--not at all organic to Roe's life, despite her marriage to Martin.That problem is pretty much taken care of in the subsequent book, A Fool and His Honey, where the appearance of Martin's niece, Regina, with an unexpected baby in tow, and then the murder of Regina's husband and concurrent disappearance of Regina leads Roe and Martin on a road trip to locate Regina and deposit the baby in an appropriate home. The removal of Roe from her usual surroundings, her unexpected transformation into an unwilling baby-minder, and the new dynamic this creates with Martin all very effectively refresh what had become a rather tired series. The denouement, a shootout that leaves Martin and a friend gravely injured and results in Roe being taken hostage is adequately unexpected and effectively brutal. But this pales next to Roe's post-rescue reunion with Martin in the hospital where relief turns to wrenching grief as Martin rather matter-of-factly dies from a heart attack. The every day ordinariness is devastating in its truth and relatable-ness. For isn't this how so many of us find ourselves suddenly transported from our ordinary lives to a grief-stricken alternate but permanent reality?
—Angela Criswell
This is a tale that explores the lengths to which people will go to obtain what they desire; in this case the central figure is a baby. Roe and husband, Martin, are surprised when Martin's niece Regina arrives unannounced with a new baby. Returning home after a dinner party, Roe and Martin find Regina's husband, Craig, has been murdered in their yard, Regina is gone and the baby, Hayden, has been hidden under a bed. Roe is burdened with Hayden's care as she and Martin attempt to find Regina who has stashed a wad of money in the diaper bag. Another unexpected guest turns up. Rory Brown is a friend of Craig and Regina's, seems overly concerned about Hayden and insists on accompanying them on their search. When Martin, Roe and Hayden arrive at Martin's little-used country house, several other characters, including neighbors Margaret and Luke Granberry, enter the tale. Asthe ending draws near, we discover family secrets intermingled with greed, deceit and unstable thinking which results in murder. I have to say I'm disappointed that Harris didn't find a way to continue the relationship of Roe and Martin. Personally, I would have enjoyed having the couple continue on as an investigation team similar to the couple featured in the "Thin Man" series.
—Genie
