I have had this in my Kindle library since 2015. I read all of the Sookie Stackhouse series and was in the mood to devour all of Charlaine Harris’s other book series. I then promptly forgot about my Kindle Library and the book was left dormant for four years!

Synopsis (as taken from Amazon Kindle Store) is as follows:

Lawrenceton, Georgia, may be a growing suburb of Atlanta, but it’s still a small town at heart. Librarian Aurora ‘Roe’ Teagarden grew up there and knows more than enough about her fellow townsfolk, including which ones share her interest in the darker side of human nature…

With those fellow crime buffs, Roe belongs to a club called Read Murders, which meets once a month to analyse famous cases. It’s a harmless pastime – until the night she finds a member dead, killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss.

As other brutal ‘copycat’ killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects- or potential victims…

Ability to read – Nothing is difficult to read in a Charlaine Harris book – at least that is what I have found. I found it very easy to get into and understood the language, description and narrative enough that I could follow the plot along quite nicely. I found that I was very curious about the characters involved in the story and what their roles might be, I read this in one sitting because I was so tempted by what I was reading and so desperate to unmask the killer.

Characterisation – I guess this is one of the rare moments where I had expectations of the book I was going to read. The Aurora Teagarden in my mind didn’t match the one in the book but as I read I came to realise how wrong my own assumptions had been. Aurora Teagarden is exactly the type of character I could get behind and exactly the right person to be in the centre of all the crime happening around her. I enjoyed the fact that she was a librarian and cared little for how she dressed and how others thought about her. At face value, she reminded me of the mousy female characters that are most often killed off first in a horror film. I was surprised by how strong she was and how determined she was to find the truth. I didn’t think much of her love interests (but then I didn’t think much of Sookie’s love interests either), however, I am looking forward to seeing how Roe grows and changes through the series.

Visualisation – I have never been to Georgia or Atlanta, so my knowledge of that is next to none, however, never did I feel like I missed out on something because of that lacking. I found it very easy to visualise what was happening and create places within my mind for the story to unfold. I found the use of descriptions to be on point and I devoured them as quickly as I could. I was able to visualise the murder scenes in much detail and began fabricating different theories in my head. It was easy to stand behind Roe and watch the story unfold, she has a very unique voice that drew me into the thick of things and let me stay there for the ride.

Uniqueness – Is this book unique? No. Is it fun? Absolutely. I very much enjoyed reading this and was pleased to find that the hype I’d built up for it over the years was justified. I wasn’t disappointed when I read this book and I was captivated enough by this first installment to want to try and read the next in the series. Roe is a character that I feel has started as a caterpillar and will soon grow into a butterfly as the series continues. It will be interesting to see what direction Charlaine Harris sets her character’s on and whether I will be happy with the end result – or through a book tantrum like I did at the end of the Sookie Stackhouse series!!

Hannah xoxo