Mystery with humor - thought it was fun. ( )

I'm not usually a fan of cozy mysteries but I chose this one to fulfill a reading challenge. Small town librarian Aurora (Roe) Teagarden is planning to attend the induction of her sister-in-law, Poppy Queensland, into the Uppity Women Club. When Poppy fails to show up, she goes to her house determined to lecture her on bad manners. What she discovers is Poppy's body. Roe always thought Poppy’s marriage was strange since both partners took other lovers. Of course, this puts many possible suspects into the mix, including police detective Arthur Smith, one of Roe's former loves.

I thought this was a quick fast read but the characters seemed a little flat to me. Possibly this is because I've never read any of the other books in the series and am unfamiliar with their back stories. I have enjoyed other books by Charlaine Harris, especially the Sookie Stackhouse series. ( )

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!! ( )

Harris delivers a quick read that holds the readers attention. Things move along at a constant pace with few slow spots. The murder is solved, the woman gets a happy ending, no cliffhangers here. Light reading for the beach or lazy days. Rather too many years for me in spots so lost one star just for moping. ( )

Not an overly complex plot, but a nice ending to the Aurora Teagarden series. ( )