Bookish Notes: Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

 

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris is the first book in the 10 books series - Aurora Teagarden mysteries. Once upon a time I wouldn't have noticed the writing style or the voice of the character and would have just enjoyed the cozy mystery, thinking the character was slightly weird or missing a few brain cells or just young for her age. I couldn't make up my mind whether I disliked Aurora or the writing which drove me crazy with all the telling vs showing.  There were several times I almost quit reading because Aurora annoyed me, but liked the premise and didn't have a clue who committed the murder, so was pleasantly surprised.  Written mostly in passive voice with many begin's, began's, was's, and seemed, which had me rewriting the sentences in my head and throwing me out of the story.   

Realize I have to cut Charlaine some slack since Real Murders is her debut novel written back in 1990 and she's since grown in style and substance.  I read the Sookie Stackhouse series a few years ago, plus Midnight Crossroads more recently which were both excellent.  

The funniest exchange which had me giggling. 

“If you want him to notice you as a woman, just lust after him.”

 “Huh?” 

“I don’t mean lick your lips or pant. Keep conversation normal. Don’t do anything obvious. You have to keep it so you don’t lose anything if he decides he’s not interested.” Amina was interested in saving face.

 “So what do I do? 

“Just lust. Keep everything going like normal, but sort of concentrate on the area below your waist and above your knees, right? And send out waves. You can do it. It’s like the Kegel exercise. You can’t show anyone how to do it, but if you describe it to a woman, she can pick it up.”

And this was just out kinda out there. Chicken Pox?

"It was such a nice little morning I decided to go to church. I often did. I sometimes enjoyed it and felt better for going, but I felt no spiritual compulsion. I went because I hoped I’d “catch it,” like deliberately exposing myself to the chicken pox. Sometimes I even wore a hat and gloves, though that was bordering on parody and gloves were not so easy to find anymore. It wasn’t a hat-and-gloves day, today, too dark and rainy, and I wasn’t in a role-playing mood, anyway."

Loved the premise and the ending so worth the read.  It may behoove Harris to give the series an editing upgrade at some point to freshen up the story for new readers as some authors have done with their backlists 

(Fictional Librarians, Fines and Misdemeanors)

BW5: Sunday's Book Babble - February's fictional librarian is Aurora Teagarden

 

It's book week 5 in our 52 Books Quest and our fictional librarian is Aurora Teagarden created by  Charlaine Harris. 

We were up until 2 last night watching another spider man movie, this one animated - Spiderman into the Spider Verse which turned out to be pretty good. Then reading until really late.

It's amazing how much reading gets down when you go on a news diet and unplug from the internet. I decided at the beginning of the year to declare 2021 the year of Nora. After I organized and reorganized my shelves, bringing Nora and her alter ego J.D. Robb's books front and center, I began by rereading the Key trilogy, then dove into her Ireland Trilogies Gallaghers of Ardmore and Born in. What is it about Robert's books? Her writing, the unique characters,  the world building, and stories all work together to entertain and pull me in.  Every time I sit down to study her writing, to help improve my own, I get drawn in, and forget about the world at large. Every time I read one of her stories, I get something new out of it.  Which is what I hope to do with my story writing some day.  Make the reader forget about the world and dive into the story world.  Now I just need to remind myself to slow down and make note of the parts of the story that stand out and why. 

Amidst the rereads, I recently finished Amanda Quick's, (Aka Jayne Ann Krentz) Second Sight, #1 in her Arcane Society series which spans from the Victoria era to the future.  Second Sight is set in the Victoria Era and introduces us to Gabriel Jones and how the Arcane Society came about.  Venetia, a female photographer with arcane gifts of her own, is hired to take pictures of artifacts Gabriel and the society have collected over the years.  While at his home, enemies arrive and Gabriel sends Venetia away for her safety. Thinking he was killed in the attack, she passes herself off as Mrs. Jones to help her photography business, but little does she realize he's still alive and has now put herself in the cross hairs of his enemies.  Victorian era culture, psychic elements, and the two characters themselves create a delightful as well as suspenseful story of murder, mystery, and romance. 

I've set aside Sharon Kay Penman's When Christ and Her Saints Slept as well as Harry Potter to finish later in the year in order to concentrate on our 52 Books read of The Count of Monte Cristo.  I'm ready to jump in with both feet and get absorbed by the story.  I'm come to the conclusion that splitting my time on more than one physical and one ebook at a time is not altogether wise.  They deserve my undivided attention.  

I'm almost done with Real Murders with our fictional librarian of the month.  Something is lacking and I'm not enjoying it as much as I did Sookie.  I'm not connecting with any of the characters and there seems to be more telling, than showing.