I am very not happy with this series now, and it's author. What a complete waste of time, reading through it all.Harris decided a few novels ago, that the reason Roe could not have children with her husband (at the time) Martin, was because she has a "deformed uterus". Roe was understandably upset. A novel or two later, it was described as "malformed", and Martin had died. Another novel later, Roe could date, and eventually sleep with, former boyfriend Robin, the writer who had left for Ca. at the beginning of the series.So busy hoping from boyfriend to boyfriend, which included the cop Arthur, the priest Aubrey, and then Martin, Roe goes from murder to murder in this TINY town, solving them all better than the lack-luster police in this place. Ok, I guess I can swallow this, as it helps give Roe the mysteries she needs, and the author something to write about. Even though I wonder about this, while reading.. just like I do with all the other series I read. But then Roe's own sister-in-law gets killed, and everything is quite a mess... and I'm not talking about in the novel! Suddenly, Poppy (the s.i.l.) is a sexually abused nymphomaniac who uses men like tissues, promises them all kinds of things while sleeping with them, and then dumps them.. and leaves them all so besotted with either love or sex, that they cannot speak badly of her, even though...? Nope, not possible. Word in that town would have gotten out about her escapades, more than this. I live in a small town, I would know.And then Harris covers all this neatly up, our/their not knowing just what she was like inside, and keeping this all away from everyone she knows (except the husband, who was perfectly happy to live with this), by saying something like, "You never know what people are really like, deep down inside"..? Nope, not gonna buy that. You can TELL just what a person is like, every time. Someone would have noticed she was a mess from her past, more than just the hubby. Something would have happened in Poppy's life, she would have made some kind of comment, some kind of slip-up, as that tightly wound a person does NOT keep all that abuse and crap inside them, never ever once leaking out. Someone would have noticed this.. and the talking would have started. It's a SMALL town.Then we find out - it's quite obvious, actually, that Roe is PREGNANT?? BULLCRAP. Oh, but it's possible NOW, because that malformation was just a "tilted uterus", & now it is possible... BULLCRAP, I reply!! A titled uterus is NOT a deformation, it is NOT a malformation, and it does NOT keep a woman from getting pregnant!!How do I know? I HAVE ONE. Not only did I have 5 pregnancies, but 3 LIVE BIRTHS, even though I had one. My very first OB/GYN said it was VERY COMMON to have a tilted uterus, for women, and that it doesn't cause ANY problems in pregnancies - I asked. (My miscarriages were NOT from my uterus being tilted.) They get tilted during an especially difficult PREGNANCY, that stretches them out, and they don't settle back to where they were, to begin with. Roe had never been pregnant before, so there was NO way for hers to be tilted, suddenly.Then, we find the killer... and she was right next door. Not even Arthur, who was screwing Poppy, knew who she was, while working on the case.. and he was RIGHT NEXT DOOR when Roe (Of Course!) figures this out. Mooning all over Poppy's house, obsessing about their relationship, and all that creepy stalker stuff. AS IF!! I mean, I knew he was a little obsessive, and slightly creepy before this... but never this bad. Also, her little brother Phillip suddenly shows up at her town and house, and is WAY Older than he should be.. about 5 years have passed since he's moved away to Ca. He was 6 years old then, and suddenly, he's 15 years old, now? And hitch-hiked ALL the way from Ca?? And is FINE, mentally and physically?? And his parents just... leave him there, with Roe, and not give a crap about him again?? Uh huh, sure.... NOT!!Bryan Pascoe, the lawyer in town, is hitting on Roe as well, even though she's dating/sleeping with Robin, and everyone knows this. And NO ONE can tell she's visibly thickening around the waist, from the unexpected pregnancy, except her other sister-in-law? HA.I am glad that this is the last novel written in this series, as I am NOT reading any more of them. And I am doubly glad - maybe even triply glad, that Harris is now writing fantasy novels, complete with characters out of make-believe, where she can make everything up that she wants to, as she goes along, without continuity or reason.. because her fans of her mystery novels would not stand for this kind of ridiculousness for much longer. NO wonder she changed over to that kind of writing. It suits much better.HRMPH!!
Una escena espantosa aguarda a la bibliotecaria Aurora «Roe» Teagarden cuando regresa del almuerzo con Las Mujeres Engreídas, su grupo de debate literario.Poppy, la cuñada de Roe, ha aparecido ensangrentada y muerta en la puerta trasera de su casa. Es cierto que Poppy tenía sus defectos, y que ella y su marido estaban teniendo serios problemas para mantenerse fieles el uno al otro, pero desde luego no se merecía ser brutalmente asesinada.La investigación de un caso como este nunca es fácil dada la atmósfera chismosa de cualquier pueblo pequeño. Y menos teniendo en cuenta los romances extramatrimoniales de la asesinada y la necesidad de proteger a su familia. Además, «Roe» también está viviendo una incipiente relación romántica y la aparición repentina de su medio hermano adolescente.Demasiadas cosas para una sola persona… incluso para una mujer tan equilibrada como Roe.Vaya chorrada.Podría resumir lo que me gustó, y lo que rescataría del libro, en tres items:1. La sinopsis2. El título3. La portadaSinceramente no esperaba una novela policíaca de esas que quitan el aliento, porque nada más con leer la sinopsis es bastante evidente que no es una de ellas; pero tampoco esperaba una historia tan floja, que no te atrapa ni aunque tengas unas ganas locas de que lo haga porque sencillamente los personajes son soporíferos, se da demasiada información (que resulta irrelevante para el desarrollo de la historia) y lo único llamativo en la vida de éstas personas es que ha muerto un familiar (vecino, o lo que fuera) hace poco y como eso en el pequeño pueblo de Lawrencetown no es que suceda muy seguido, pues todos tenían su pequeño mundo un tanto color de rosa, patas arriba. Como venía diciendo, los personajes son muy comunes (no que eso sea algo malo, de hecho a veces es bueno dejar tanta fantasía y poner un poco los pies en la tierra) y no hay un interés por saber qué pasará con sus vidas ahora que un suceso tan impactante les ha afectado, sinceramente seguí leyendo más por fuerza de voluntad que otra cosa. Lo que más me ha fastidiado es que la identidad del asesino se puede deducir CON DEMASIADA FACILIDAD y vamos, esperaba un poquito más de misterio, algún picante en la historia. Pero lastimosamente no lo encontré. No es que todo sea malo, hay una o dos situaciones (o más bien revelaciones) que son inesperadas... pero que se ven opacadas a medida que la lectura avanza. Esperaba una lectura corta (que lo es) y amena (no tanto) pero me encontré con algo que pudo ser memorable, pero se quedó en el intento.
What do You think about Poppy Done To Death (2004)?
This book was the proverbial last straw, breaking my support of this author. You know, I *enjoyed* the Sookie Stackhouse books, even though the writing was poor and the plots were flimsy. I raced through the Harper Connelly books, even though they were, well, ridiculous. The Lily Bard and Aurora Teagarden books have just done me in though. I've struggled through this particular series, put off by unlikeable characters, plots implausible even for a mystery serial, a writing style less developed than most high school students', and a lack of continuity in storyline 'facts' not just from novel to novel but even within the same novel.I don't even know where to start in explaining what's wrong with this particular installment. Let's just say: don't bother reading.
—Heidi
The series is... okay. This one brings certain things full circle with the first story in the series, which is satisfying in the tying up. I was so-so about the plot, which Poppy, Roe's step-sister-in-law is promoted from likeable but plain background character to a woman with a dark past, lots of secrets, and a long list of lovers in a very small town. Thankfully there is a bit more nuance than "I'm only she weren't so promiscuous, she wouldn't have died" but that's there too.(What happens with Poppy's character is one of the times in this series I grew to find tiresome - interesting and generally good characters in one book would suddenly turn stupid and/or turn out to have morals lower than a gator's belly. I like complex characters, but many seemed to be treated as props that could be slapped with a totally different coat of paint in order to fit in a new setting.)
—Meredith
I like these cozy murder mysteries by Charlaine Harris. Her Sookie Stackhouse series about vampires have made her much more famous. I suspect that the supernatural setting is more intriguing to readers (I like them too), but I enjoy the small-town natural setting of these Aurora Teagarden mysteries. I've read all eight of the series so far. Aurora is a librarian and I have enjoyed watching her fictional life unfold, with mysteries to solve, romances to agonize over, murderers to catch, and correct Southern politeness to uphold. In Poppy Done to Death, Roe's sister-in-law is found murdered, and infidelity on both sides of the marriage confuse the issue. The reason I'm reviewing this book, instead of the other eight, is because I was drawn to Roe's musings about marriage, prompted by the revelations of so much infidelity in the story. Her own father was and still is unfaithful, now she discovers her sister- and brother-in-law have had several lovers, and we begin to wonder if any marriage is supportive and loving. Here are a few tidbits from Roe about marriage:**"There have to be some assumptions you make when you agree to bind your life to another person's, and the basic assumption and maybe the most important of all is that this person will get your exclusive attention."**"To make [an extended:] family work, you have to be willing to keep your mouth shut and park your judgments by the door."**"What I was missing at this moment was the state of being married. I missed having someone there to share the little moments of my day. I missed having someone to whom I was the most important person on earth. I missed part of being a team, whose job was to back each other up."**"Sometimes I just didn't understand myself. Half of me wanted to stand upright and independent, and half of me wanted to lean against someone stronger. Possibly the answer could be found in a good partnership, in which one could take turns leaning."
—Dlora
