A few years ago I was twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the new Sookie Stackhouse book to come out, when I decided to see what else Charlaine Harris had written. Turned out she'd written a lot of other books, including three other mystery series featuring similarly intrepid heroines. My eye immediately settled on the Lily Bard series of mysteries also known as the "Shakespeare" mysteries because main character Lily lives in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, and because each book has the word Shakespeare in the title. Up until recently all five of the Lily Bard mysteries were out of print, but then Berkeley Prime Crime re-released the entire series in very attractive mass market editions. My mom gave me the first one, SHAKESPEARE'S LANDLORD, as a Christmas present and I started tracking down the other four before I was even twenty pages in. A big fan of the Sookie books, I was instantly drawn to this darker, less humorous but no less compelling series. Lily Bard isn't precisely in hiding, but she's flying as far below the radar as is humanly possible. After chopping her hair off, toning her body into lean, mean fighting machine, and then hiding it all under the baggiest and blandest of clothes, Lily decides to settle in the sleepy, little town of Shakespeare, Arkansas in an attempt to disappear. She chose Shakespeare at random off the map because she thought it was rather poetic given her last name. During the day Lily works as a cleaning lady, while at night she trains hard at bodybuilding and karate at the local gym. Every night she hopes it'll be hard enough to allow her to sleep. In her line of work, Lily is in and out of homes, apartments, and office buildings all across town. She sees and hears a lot more than she'd like. Most of it is just your usual small town gossip. But one night, while out on one of her frequent restless midnight walks, Lily sees something unusual. Someone pushing a cart filled with a large, lumpy something wrapped up in black plastic garbage bags. When Lily finds out just what is inside those garbage bags, she becomes inextricably immersed in exactly the kind of gruesome crime she's worked so hard to avoid.And that is how the series kicks off. Lily, herself, is an extremely tough, conflicted character. I took to her at once. She lives an incredibly regimented, perfectly calculated life and it's almost painful to watch this thread of dark chaos worm its way into her peace and order. And while she is about as alone as a person can get, Harris peoples Shakespeare with a whole town's worth of kooky, creepy, and funny characters. All of whom Lily attempts to sidestep with varying degrees of success. With each book in this series, we learn more about Lily and her nightmarish past as she learns more about herself and those around her. In the second book she is joined by a character who is a particular favorite of mine and the two of them together form one of the most well-suited pairs I've ever come across. A glimpse of Lily:Once upon a time, years ago, I thought I was pretty. My sister, Varena, and I had the usual rivalry going, and I remember deciding my eyes were bigger and a lighter blue than hers, my nose was straighter and thinner, and my lips were fuller. Her chin was better--neat and determined. Mine is round. I haven't seen Varena in three years now. Probably she is the pretty one. Though my face hasn't changed, my mind has. The workings of the mind look out through the face and alter it. Sometimes, some mornings--the ones after the really bad nights--I look in the mirror and do not recognize the woman I see there. This was going to be one of those really bad nights (though I had no idea how bad it was going to get). But I could tell there was no point in going to bed. My feet itched to be moving. I dressed again, throwing my sweaty workout clothes into the hamper and pulling on blue jeans and a T-shirt, tucking in the T-shirt and pulling a belt through the belt loops. My hair was only a little damp; the blow-dryer finished the job. I pulled on a dark windbreaker. Front door, back door, kitchen door? Some nights it takes me awhile to decide.I worked my way through this series with palpable pleasure and it was a sad day indeed when I closed the fifth one knowing there would be no more. These are straight up mysteries with a Southern flavor, a fair bit of violence, intense encounters of all varieties, and a lot of grit. There isn't even a hint of the paranormal and all the energy goes into the character development and an honest depiction of a strong woman working hard to stay true to herself and keep the ghosts at bay. Like Harris' more recent Harper Connelly series, I think the Lily Bard mysteries deserve a good deal more attention and I hope those looking to branch out on the Sookie series will find a good home in Shakespeare. I certainly did.Reading Order: SHAKESPEARE'S LANDLORD, Shakespeare's Champion, Shakespeare's Christmas, Shakespeare's Trollop, and Shakespeare's Counselor
to be honest, i'd move to a town named shakespeare, too.but that's where most of the similarities between lily bard and me end.look, i know i promise after EVERY. CHARLAINE. HARRIS. NOVEL. EVER. that that's the one that will be the last for me. that i've gone off her and her books. but sure enough, i find myself going back to her endless bounty of mediocre mysteries time and time again. i almost gave up on this one around page 20...maybe it's the northerner in me, but there are definitely some curious racial undertones operating in this one that just didn't sit well with me. i'd picked up on them in the aurora teagardens but seemed oblivious to them in the sookies (possibly because the supernatural races were so predominant, it was easy to pretend that the racism was exclusive to make-believe subcategories like fairies and werewolves)...is that was living in the south is really like? or was it just the 90s? i don't know...but it was definitely off-putting.the other issues for me revolved around sex. the premise is basically that lily bard is the survivor of a traumatic kidnapping/rape who moves to a new place for anonymity, works out like a champ, and cleans houses to make a livable wage. i appreciate authors trying to depict what i'll classify as "optimistic rape survival" stories (meaning, rather than focus on the act itself or the negative repercussions, harris tries to paint lily as someone capable and determined to make her own way in the world despite her tragic past) but ultimately she still needs to be saved by a man (literally, figuratively, ecumenically) and the whole "women power" thing falls flat. there's this uncomfortable moment toward the end of the novel where lily bard, who never makes eye contact, looks another woman in the eyes and searches her soul for some hidden scar of recognition and they share a moment in solidarity. blech.there's also a town slut that gets shamed HARD here as well as deeply uncomfortable sex scenes that include such terrific lines as "and my boobs popped out" that make this whole thing just feel impossibly anti-female. still, as an inaugural mystery in a series, it's not terrible. the more i read, the easier it was to forgive some of the missteps. 2.5 stars - not terrible but certainly very much reflective of a time and place that is now almost 20 years away from us.
What do You think about Shakespeare's Landlord (2005)?
Loved this book. Lily Bard is such a strong survivor. She is the housekeeper for many of the citizens in a small town called Shakespeare. (view spoiler)[ She went through such a horrible tragedy when she lived in Memphis. Kidnapped, raped for days, left for dead, and she had to kill someone. Even though the killing was justified her parents pretty much turned their backs on her. Through all of that she is still such a sweet, honest, and kind young woman. She is also holding everything together. Then one night she finds a dead body. The body of her landlord. All her neighbors have a reason to want Pardon, the landlord dead.Lily, along with the police chief Claude unravel the mystery behind Pardon's death. I was quite surprised to find that the murderer was the nice old man from the apartments. (hide spoiler)]
—Nikinnia Smith garcia
3.5 out of 5 starsA great beginning to a new (for me) mystery series. I really enjoyed Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books, and these books promise to be good, too. The main character is Lily Bard, a person who is trying to hide from her terrible past. She has been living in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas for four years when the landlord of the apartment building where she works as a cleaning lady is murdered. Lily becomes involved in the hunt for the murderer, and thus sets the stage for the story. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised about many parts of this book. I was expecting a cozy mystery, something similar to Murder She Wrote or the Crossword Lady books. Instead I got something a bit more complex, with a protagonist that was more Kinsey Milhone (from Sue Grafton's Alphabet series) than Jessica Fletcher. I liked that Lily is a strong, though damaged woman, fighting the demons of her past. In fact, I was surprised by Lily's past as I was not expecting a character with so much baggage. To me that makes her a more interesting character to read about. In addition, there were a few other characters that I am excited to keep tabs on in the future. In addition, the plot of the story was solid with enough innuendo and red herrings to keep me guessing. In fact, I did not guess who the murderer was at all, and when Harris revealed the perpetrator and the motive, I was definitely surprised. In fact, most of my friends who have read this book have said the same thing. The fact that Ms. Harris is able to craft a mystery that actually surprised me with it's ending is a selling point and has solidified my resolve to read the rest of the series.
—Lyn (Readinghearts)
Originally posted on Book Chick City. 7/10 on the blog."Shakespeare's Landlord" is a really good start to what I hope will be a fun, addictive mystery series. It has all the elements to be so, with a great heroine and supporting cast, and a cosy town where they all live weaving in and out of each others lives. Lily Bard has a dark past that Harris only hints at, by the end of the book I still really didn't know what had happened to Lily to make her run and set up home in a small town like Shakespeare. But she's managed to create a little niche for herself by starting a cleaning business and keeping herself to herself. That's the way she likes it.But one night, while out for a walk, she discovers a body in the local park. Instead of phoning the police Lily heads back home and calls the police anonymously to let them know. She really didn't want the police digging around in her past...From here on things get a little out of control and Lily's well controlled private life suddenly begins to spiral. She has more conversations with her neighbours in the week surrounding the murder than she has done for the few years she's been living in the town. Which is saying a lot since she cleans most of their homes!One of Lily's favourite past times is working out at the gym and her martial arts class, which she never misses. But as her organised life slips so does her relationships with the men around her, including her instructor. There are two main love interests and I have my heart set on one rather than the other, so I'm really eager to know where Harris takes me in the subsequent books.As always, Harris's writing is vivid but also easy going. I really love her writing style. One of the most fun aspects to "Shakespeare's Landlord" is that it had me guessing until the very end, which is a very good thing for a mystery and something which doesn't happen for me very often. As with most first books in a series it took me a little time to get into the story, but when I did I had great time visiting Shakespeare town.VERDICT:"Shakespeare's Landlord" is a fun cosy mystery. Harris weaves her writerly magic once again and has captured my imagination. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, 'Shakespeare's Champion'.
—Carolyn (Book Chick City)
