Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn\'t such a bright idea.

Psychic Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full with an amnesiac vampire in the fourth seductive novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.When cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse sees a naked man on the side of the road, she doesn’t just drive on by. Turns out the poor thing hasn’t a clue who he is, but Sookie does. It’s the vampire Eric Northman—but now he’s a kinder, gentler Eric. And a scared Eric, because whoever took his memory now wants his life.Sookie’s investigation into why leads straight into a dangerous battle among witches, vampires, and werewolves. But a greater danger could be to Sookie’s heart—because the kinder, gentler Eric is very difficult to resist...

Bon Temps’s psychic waitress takes a dangerous road trip in the third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series...   There’s only one vampire Sookie Stackhouse is involved with (at least voluntarily) and it’s Bill Compton. But recently he’s been a little distant—in another state, distant. Then his sinister and sexy boss Eric Northman tells Sookie where she might find him. Next thing she knows, she’s off to Jackson, Mississippi, to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead, a dangerous little haunt where the elite of vampire society can go to chill out and suck down some Type-O. But when Sookie finally finds Bill—caught in an act of serious betrayal—she’s not sure whether to save him...or sharpen some stakes.

In the tenth novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Sookie Stackhouse learns that not even her psychic abilities can help her solve all the problems in Bon Temps, Louisiana...After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Fae War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s mad. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new vampire king because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the shifters’ coming-out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to one particular Were draws her into the dangerous debate. Also, unknown to her, though the doors to Faery have been closed, there are still some fae on the human side—and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry.

Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is stuck in the middle of a vampire gathering on the verge of disaster in the seventh novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full with shapeshifter Quinn—a possible new man in her life—and the upcoming central U.S. Vampire Summit on the shores of Lake Michigan. Sookie\'s job at the summit is to support Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne, whose power base was weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. But Sookie is about to discover just how dangerous that job can be, as she is drawn further and further into the vampire world...

Small town cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse’s supernatural existence puts her in the line of fire in the fifth novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.When Sookie Stackhouse sees her brother Jason’s eyes start to change, she knows he’s about to turn into a were-panther for the first time. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population, and Jason’s new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now, Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who’s behind the attacks—unless the killer decides to find her first...

The second novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s “addictively entertaining”(Locus) Sookie Stackhouse series. **Even though Sookie has her own vampire to look out for her—her red-hot, cold-blooded boyfriend, Bill Compton—she has to admit that the bloodsuckers did save her life. So when one of the local Undead asks the cocktail waitress for a favor, she feels like she owes them. Soon, Sookie’s in Dallas using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved. There’s just one condition: The vampires must promise to behave—and let the humans go unharmed. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly... **

Caught up in the politics of the vampire world, psychic Sookie Stackhouse learns that she is as much of a pawn as any ordinary human in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.With her knack for being in trouble’s way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover, Eric Northman, and his “child” Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot—which is much more complicated than she knows...

In the penultimate novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Sookie Stackhouse must work with her first love to clear her current undead flame of murder...Felipe de Castro, the vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric Northman’s front yard—especially the body of a woman whose blood he just drank. Now it’s up to Sookie and Bill Compton, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who has set out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down.

In the ninth novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series, the werewolves and shifters come out of the closet and throw the small town of Bon Temps into a tailspin...Except for cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, knew little about vamps—and nothing about Weres. Until now. The Weres and shifters have finally revealed their existence to the ordinary world, and the backlash may have claimed the life of someone Sookie knew. But her determination to find out who is responsible for the murder is put aside in the face of a far greater danger. A race of unhuman beings—older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves—is preparing for war. And Sookie will find herself an all-too-human pawn in their battle...

Psychic cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse finds herself in the middle of big trouble of the supernatural kind in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, and the manmade horror of the explosion at the vampire summit, Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to normal. But her boyfriend Quinn is among the missing. And things are changing, whether the Weres and vamps in her corner of Louisiana like it or not. In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death...and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood ceases flowing, her world will be forever altered...

In this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, supernaturally gifted waitress Sookie Stackhouse is pitted against the legacy of her own undead bloodline in that most haunted of cities, New Orleans...Since Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has so few living relatives, she hates to lose one—even her cousin Hadley, undead consort of the vampire queen of New Orleans. Hadley’s left everything she had to Sookie, but claiming that inheritance has a high risk factor. Some people don’t want her looking too deeply into Hadley’s past or Hadley’s possessions. And they’re prepared to do anything in their power to stop her...

Let’s face it ― the holidays can bring out the beast in anyone. They are particularly hard if you’re a lycanthrope. Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner have harvested the scariest, funniest, saddest werewolf tales, by an outstanding pack of authors, best heard by the light of a full moon and with a silver bullet close at hand. Whether wolfing down a holiday feast (use your imagination) or craving some hair of the dog on New Year’s morning, the werewolves in these fifteen frighteningly original stories will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants off listeners who love a little wolfsbane with their mistletoe. “Fresh, interesting tales...[that] star some of the more famous series characters like Sookie Stackhouse.” ―Alternative Worlds “A captivating collection...offers up the Christmas spirit in a wonderfully wicked way.” ―Darque Reviews --This text refers to the Audio CD edition. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

#1 New York Times bestseller Charlaine Harris finally returns to her fan-favorite Aurora Teagarden series with All the Little Liars, a fabulously fun new mystery and the basis for a movie from Hallmark. Aurora Teagarden is basking in the news of her pregnancy when disaster strikes her small Georgia town: four kids vanish from the school soccer field in an afternoon. Aurora’s 15-year-old brother Phillip is one of them. Also gone are two of his friends, and an 11-year-old girl who was just hoping to get a ride home from soccer practice. And then there’s an even worse discovery—at the kids’ last known destination, a dead body. While the local police and sheriff’s department comb the county for the missing kids and interview everyone even remotely involved, Aurora and her new husband, true crime writer Robin Crusoe, begin their own investigation. Could the death and kidnappings have anything to do with a group of bullies at the middle school? Is Phillip’s disappearance related to Aurora’s father’s gambling debts? Or is Phillip himself, new to town and an unknown quantity, responsible for taking the other children? But regardless of the reason, as the days go by, the most important questions remain. Are the kids still alive? Who could be concealing them? Where could they be? With Christmas approaching, Aurora is determined to find her brother…if he’s still alive. **Review At last, Aurora Teagarden is back! Everyone's favourite librarian is newly wed and pregnant-and coping with the disappearance of her half-brother. Once again, Charlaine Harris delivers engaging characters in an intriguing plot; she can always be counted on to divert us with her polished writing style. Newcomers to the series as well as rejoicing long-time readers should leap at the chance to catch up with Aurora. * G.M. Malliet, award-winning author of the St. Just and Max Tudor mysteries * Great bloody fun -- Barbara Paul Clearly focused plot, animated description of character and real estate, and sparkling prose commend this breath of fresh air to all collections * Library Journal * Harris draws the guilty and the innocent into an engrossing tale while inventing a heroine as capable and potentially complex as P. D. James's Cordelia Gray * Publishers Weekly * About the Author CHARLAINE HARRIS is a #1 New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for over thirty years. Born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area, she is the author of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, which are the basis for the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Aurora Teagarden original movies; the Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasy series, which was the basis for the HBO show True Blood; the Midnight, Texas series, which is the basis for the NBC show of the same name; the Shakespeare mysteries; the Harper Connelly mysteries; and the Cemetery Girl mysteries. Harris now lives in Texas with her husband.

Explore the unconventional, otherworldly life of psychic waitress Sookie Stackhouse in this companion to the bestselling series that takes a closer look at Sookie and her family, friends, enemies, adventures, and—of course—the lovers who set her world on fire...  Visit Bon Temps, the small Louisiana town that Sookie calls home, with a detailed map created by Charlaine herself, and learn the characteristics of the supernaturals who live there: vampires, two-natured, and fae. Examine all the branches of Sookie’s family tree. And eavesdrop on the private conversations between rival vampires Eric and Bill. Also, enjoy the compelling novella “Small-Town Wedding,” in which Sookie accompanies her shapeshifting boss, Sam, to his brother’s wedding in Texas, where happily-ever-after seems very far away.... Exclusive interviews with True Blood creator Alan Ball and author Charlaine Harris—compiled from fan questions—will satisfy your craving for all things Sookie, as will trivia questions, recipes (including Caroline Bellefleur’s famous chocolate cake!), and a concordance to the Sookie Stackhouse novels. **Review “Can’t get enough of Sookie Stackhouse? Then grab a copy of this comprehensive guide filled with a complete rundown on her many adventures and so much more.”—Monsters and Critics “Harris has whipped up a companion piece spiced nicely for a variety of palates, sprinkled deliciously with her trademark humor.”—Tulsa World “For the Sookie Stackhouse series fan, this book is an absolute must. It delves deeper into the series and it’s always fun to get the author’s point-of-view about the characters and world she has created. This book can tide fans over until the next book or next season of True Blood.”—The Parkersburg News and Sentinel “A fun read, a satisfying Sookie fix, and a good resource…Consider The Sookie Stackhouse Companion a fun addition to your Sookie library.”—Tor.com “This is a true companion book to a great urban fantasy series!...Edited by Charlaine Harris herself, this book offers the ultimate guide to the ‘Sookieverse’ and it is set out in such a way that it will please even the most hardcore fans out there… I cannot say how thankful I felt for this book and I cannot believe that anyone who has followed the series will not feel the same gratitude and pleasure for this little gift. It is really for the fans and that reflects on the quality of the work: meticulous, funny, and touching! If you praise yourself to be a Sookie Stackhouse avid (or even more moderate) fan then this book should be already devoured by you!”—Love Vampires About the Author Charlaine Harris is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

Every Sookie Stackhouse short story ever written—in one special volume—from the New York Times bestselling author. New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris has re-imagined the supernatural world with her “spunky” (Tampa Tribune) Southern Vampire novels starring telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Now, for the first time, here is every Sookie Stackhouse short story ever written—together in one volume. Stories include “Fairy Dust,” “One Word Answer,” “Dracula Night,” “Lucky,” and “Giftwrap.” For years, Charlaine Harris has delighted fans with her mystery series featuring small-town waitress-turned-paranormal-sleuth Sookie Stackhouse. Now, Ace is pleased to republish her second novel in the series in hardcover. In this book, Sookie is pursued by a very sexy vampire—and a very deadly monster. With HBO and Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, launching an all-new series, True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire novels, the demand for Charlaine Harris and Sookie Stackhouse is going to be bigger than ever.

The first Harper Connelly mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris! Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who’s passed, and share their very last moment. Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver are experts at getting in, getting paid, and then getting out of town fast—because the people who hire Harper have a funny habit of not really wanting to know what she has to tell them.At first, the little Ozarks town of Sarne seems like no exception.  A teenage girl has gone missing, but the secrets of her death—and the secrets of the town—are deep enough that even Harper’s special ability can’t uncover them.  With hostility welling up all around them, she and Tolliver would like nothing better than to be on their way.  But then another woman is murdered.  And the killer’s not finished yet...

In Sleep Like a Baby, the latest installment of the #1 New York Times Bestselling Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series, Robin and Aurora have finally begun their adventure in parenting. With newborn Sophie proving to be quite a handful, Roe’s mother pays for a partially trained nurse, Virginia Mitchell, to come help the new parents for a few weeks. Virginia proves to be especially helpful when Robin has to leave town for work and Roe is struck with a bad case of the flu. One particularly stormy night, Roe wakes to hear her daughter crying and Virginia nowhere to be found. Roe's brother Philip helps her search the house and they happen upon a body outside… but it isn’t Virginia’s. Now, not only does she have a newborn to care for and a vulnerable new marriage to nurture, Roe also has to contend with a new puzzle -- who is this mystery woman dead in their backyard, and what happened to Virginia? This heart-pounding and exciting next installment of the Aurora Teagarden series will leave fans happy and hungry for more. **Review "Absorbing… Harris weaves a complex tale of difficult family dynamics that highlights the horrors of being a teenager. Aurora, a smart and witty protagonist, possesses all the Southern charm necessary to carry this entertaining series." -Publishers Weekly "Harris treasures the everyday routines of small-town family life, burnishing little moments until they glow." -Los Angeles Times on the Sookie Stackhouse series About the Author CHARLAINE HARRIS, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area. She is the author of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, which are the basis for the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Aurora Teagarden original movies; the Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasy series, which was the basis for the HBO show True Blood; the Shakespeare mysteries; the Harper Connelly mysteries; and the Cemetery Girl mysteries. Harris now lives in Texas with her husband.

DON’T MISS THE SECOND SEASON OF MIDNIGHT, TEXAS, THE NBC TV SERIES BASED ON CHARLAINE HARRIS’**S BESTSELLING NOVELS! From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels comes the third novel of Midnight, Texas, the town where some secrets will never see the light of day...  ** At Midnight’s local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves—only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town. Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There’s a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place... **Review Praise for Charlaine Harris and her Novels of Midnight, Texas   “The Mark Twain of things that live under your bed.”—Houston Press   “[An] out-of-the-ordinary mystery.”—Publishers Weekly   “Fun but creepy...A very quirky mystery that reveals more fascinating details about the varied denizens of this little town.”—Locus   “A little magic, a little mystery, and a lot of imagination make for a story that is both fun and edgy.”—Kirkus Reviews   “As intimate and deep as the Stackhouse novels.”—Library Journal   “Move over Bon Temps, Midnight Texas has arrived.”—Fresh Fiction About the Author Charlaine Harris is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

THE FINAL NOVEL IN THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SOOKIE STACKHOUSE SERIES!When a shocking murder rocks the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, psychic cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse learns that she has more than one enemy waiting to get vengeance for the past. Beacuse nothing is ever clear-cut in Bon Temps. What passes for truth is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough...

THE FIRST AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERY—NOW A HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERY ORIGINAL STARRING CANDACE CAMERON BURE!#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris introduces a Southern librarian whose bookish bent for murder gets her involved in a real-life killing spree…   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 Real Murders, which meets once a month to analyze 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. And 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...

When a Hollywood film crew descends on the small town of Lawrenceton, Georgia, part-time librarian Aurora Teagarden gets a behind-the-scenes look at moviemaking—and reprises her role as an amateur sleuth…   It’s been more than a year since her husband Martin’s death, and Roe Teagarden is still in mourning. All she wants is to be left alone to grieve—but that becomes impossible when a movie company arrives in Lawrenceton. They’ve come to make a film based on a book written by her onetime boyfriend Robin Crusoe, a book that detailed their shared investigation of a series of murders that occurred years before.   The locals are delighted. Roe is not. But Robin is just beginning to win her over when the lead actress—who is playing Roe—is killed. Once again, the two of them join forces to thwart a killer—without knowing that Roe herself is the next target...DON\'T MISS THE AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES ON HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES!

Lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly and her stepbrother Tolliver must face their family’s troubled past in this gripping mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris.Taking a break from looking for the dead, Harper and Tolliver decide to visit the two little girls they both think of as sisters. But as they travel to Texas, memories of their horrible childhood resurface...   To make matters worse, Tolliver learns his father is out of jail and trying to reestablish contact with other family members. Tolliver wants no part of the man—but he may not have a choice in the matter. Soon, family secrets ensnare them both, as Harper finally discovers what happened to her missing sister, Cameron, so many years before. And what she finds out will change her world forever.

From bestselling author Charlaine Harris and rising star Amanda Stevens come two otherworldly tales sure to haunt readers well after the last page is turned. Dancers in the Dark  #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris Layla Rue Le May is no ordinary dancerher partner, Sean McClendon, is a three-hundred-year-old redheaded vampire. When Layla Rue acquires a stalker, she\'s forced to face the musicand wonder if this will finally be her last dance. The Devil\'s Footprints Award-winning author Amanda Stevens Years after her sister\'s unsolved murder, Sarah DeLaune is haunted by the mysteries of her past when two mutilated bodies are found near Sarah\'s New Orleans home, the crime scene desecrated by cloven footprints. Sarah has always believed that her sister was killed by a man named Ashe Cain. But no one else has ever seen Ashe. Until now.

New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris has created a phenomenon with her Sookie Stackhouse novels, which are the basis for the smash hit television program True Blood. In this companion piece to her wildly popular series, Harris explains the fate of a character shrouded in mystery. Sookie's cousin Hadley ran away years earlier and hasn't been heard from since. When Mr. Cataliades visits on behalf of the vampire queen of Louisiana, Sookie finally learns that Hadley was murdered during a cemetery ritual. Now, the queen has an unusual request of Sookie that will force the telepathic cocktail waitress into a difficult situation. "One Word Answer" can be enjoyed on its own, but devotees of the series will find the story especially enjoyable, as it helps bridge the gap between Dead as a Doornail (Book 5) and Definitely Dead (Book 6). **

#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with the second of the Gunnie Rose series, in which Lizbeth is hired onto a new crew, transporting a crate into Dixie, the self-exiled southeast territory of the former United States. What the crate contains is something so powerful, that forces from across three territories want to possess it. In this second thrilling installment of the Gunnie Rose series, Lizbeth Rose is hired onto a new crew for a seemingly easy protection job, transporting a crate into Dixie, just about the last part of the former United States of America she wants to visit. But what seemed like a straight-forward job turns into a massacre as the crate is stolen. Up against a wall in Dixie, where social norms have stepped back into the last century, Lizbeth has to go undercover with an old friend to retrieve the crate as what's inside can spark a rebellion, if she can get it back in time. #1 New York Times...

Psychic sleuth Harper Connelly travels to Memphis and ends up involved in a case of murder times three in this mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris.At the request of anthropology professor Clyde Nunley, Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver come to Memphis, Tennessee, to demonstrate her unique talent—in an old cemetery. Nunley is skeptical, even after Harper senses—and finds—two bodies in the grave beneath her feet. One of a man centuries-dead. The other, a young girl, recently deceased, whom Harper had once tried, and failed, to locate. But Harper’s new investigation into the crime yields yet another surprise: the next morning, a third body is found—in the very same grave...

THE SECOND AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERY—NOW A HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERY ORIGINAL STARRING CANDACE CAMERON BURE!Death comes calling on small-town librarian Aurora Teagarden in this entertaining mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris.Going to two weddings—one of a former lover—and a funeral for a member of her disbanded crime study club keeps Aurora “Roe” Teagarden quite busy for a few months. Unfortunately, her personal life seems to be at a standstill—until her fortunes unexpectedly change.   After the funeral Roe learns that Jane Engle, the deceased, has named her as heir to a  rather substantial estate, which includes money, jewelry, and a house complete with a skull hidden in a window seat. Knowing Jane, Roe concludes that the elderly woman has purposely left her a murder to solve. So she must identify the victim and figure out which one of Jane’s ordinary-seeming neighbors is a murderer—without putting herself in deadly danger...

You’re invited…to a celebration of vampires by a baker’s dozen of favorite authors. Sink your teeth into thirteen original stories, each one a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure you’ll never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again. “Experienced genre hands ensure the high quality of thirteen stories about birthdays and vampires.” — Booklist “Thoroughly enjoyable…a toothsome collection of birthday treats you will not want to miss.” - Monsters and Critics **

THE THIRD AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERY—NOW A HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERY ORIGINAL STARRING CANDACE CAMERON BURE!Aurora Teagarden’s decision to become a real estate agent turns out to be a life-or-death choice in this mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris.   Aurora “Roe” Teagarden had always worked for a living, until an unexpected legacy gave her the money to quit her librarian job. Now, with time on her hands, she decides to try selling real estate. Her mother, after all, is Lawrenceton’s premier real estate agent, giving her a head start on this new career!   But at her first house showing, Roe discovers the naked corpse of a rival broker in the master bedroom. When one of her mother’s colleagues falls under suspicion, Roe is determined to clear his name. And when a second body is found in another house for sale, it becomes obvious that there is a very cool killer at large in Lawrenceton, one who knows a great deal about real estate—and maybe too much about Roe...

#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris is at her best in this alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this third installment of the Gunnie Rose series.Picking up right where A Longer Fall left off, this thrilling third installment follows Lizbeth Rose as she takes on one of her most dangerous missions yet: rescuing her estranged partner, Prince Eli, from the Holy Russian Empire. Once in San Diego, Lizbeth is going to have to rely upon her sister Felicia, and her growing Grigori powers to navigate her way through this strange new world of royalty and deception in order to get Eli freed from jail where he's being held for murder. Russian Cage continues to ramp up the momentum with more of everything Harris' readers adore her for with romance, intrigue, and a deep dive into the mysterious Holy Russian Empire. #1 New York Times bestselling...

THE FOURTH AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERY—NOW A HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERY ORIGINAL STARRING CANDACE CAMERON BURE!Love at first sight turns into newlywed bliss for former librarian Aurora Teagarden—until violence cuts the honeymoon short…   Roe has never been happier than she’s been since she met her fiancé, wealthy businessman Martin Bartell. Despite their differences in age and background, he seems to know exactly what she wants—like the Julius House. Roe has always been intrigued by its history—six years previously, the family who lived there disappeared, never to be seen again...   As Roe throws herself into renovating her wedding present, her misgivings about Martin’s rather murky past recede. But when she is attacked by an ax-wielding maniac, she begins to suspect that the secrets inside the Julius House—and her new marriage—could be deadly...

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE — To Lily Bard, the sleepy town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, was the perfect place to hide from the violence that nearly destroyed her life years before. Today Lily is strong, confident in the martial arts she studies, her looks disguised by her closely cropped hair and baggy clothes. Working as a housecleaner, Lily comes and goes without anyone noticing -- until she witnesses a murder. What Lily Bard saw on that dark night has stripped away her, anonymity and earned her the unwanted attention of a homicide detective and a suspicious community. And with her intense, married, karate instructor showing a passionate interest of his own, Lily\'s plan of a private, well-ordered life is coming unhinged. The killer of an unlamented landlord is lurking close by. And while Lily knows the dirt on her neighbors\' dust, drawers, and private live , must admit to a secret of her own: that in the shadow of a brutal murder, she is coming alive again...

Part-time librarian Aurora Teagarden is “a genuine steel magnolia”(Booklist) in bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s compelling mystery series. Now, Roe will have to use all of her southern wiles to investigate a murder within her own family…   Not just any woman in Lawrenceton, Georgia, gets to be a member of the Uppity Women Book Club. But Roe’s stepsister-in-law Poppy has climbed her way up the waiting list of the group—only to die on the day she’s supposed to be inducted.   What makes Poppy’s murder even worse are the rumors of infidelity on both sides of the marriage swirling around town. To find the killer, Roe must determine if the sordid stories are true. Suspects abound, and the things she uncovers make her question her own heart, but her passion for the truth drives her on—into the path of the cold-blooded killer.DON\'T MISS THE AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES ON HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES!

The voices of the dead become inescapable clues for lightning-struck sleuth Harper Connelly in this “winning series” (Booklist) of murder—and beyond—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris…Harper Connelly heads to Doraville, North Carolina to find a missing boy—one of several teenage boys who have disappeared over the last five years. And all of them are calling for Harper. She finds them, buried in the frozen ground. All she wants is to get out of town before she’s caught in the media storm—until she herself is attacked and becomes part of the investigation. Soon Harper will learn more than she cared to about the dark mysteries and long-hidden secrets of Doraville—knowledge of the dead that makes her next in line to end up in an ice-cold grave...

Though Roe has proven she can handle just about anything, this part-time librarian may not be ready for the full-time crises that comes her way in the sixth Aurora Teagarden mystery...Roe’s life finally seems to have settled into a comfortable pattern. Her marriage to Martin is going well, she’s back at work at the Lawrenceton library—and she hasn’t found a dead body in quite a while. But then one afternoon her handyman goes crazy in her front yard. Roe suspects this is a sign of more bad things to come. And she is right.Soon Martin’s niece, Regina, shows up with a baby that no one knew she had. Then she disappears, leaving behind the child—and a murdered husband. To find her, Roe and Martin retrace her steps from sunny Georgia back to snowy Ohio, where they will uncover dark family secrets—at their own peril...DON\'T MISS THE AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES ON HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES!

In this Lily Bard mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, Shakespeare, Arkansas’ favorite sleuth has to clean up after a clever killer.Cleaning lady Lily Bard is a pro when it comes to keeping the exteriors of her small town absolutely spotless. But it’s the dirt below the surface that really keeps her busy. Even Lily herself has her share of secrets...   That’s why she’s joined a weekly group therapy session—to open up and finally face the past. That sounds positively enlightening, until the gruesome murder of a fellow member sends a terrifying warning. But which person in the group is the message meant for? Why? And who next will suffer the consequences of a killer’s head games?

When Lily stumbles upon the well-built corpse of a local body builder-his neck broken by a barbell-the town\'s underlying racial tension begins to boil over. The white victim was somehow connected to two unsolved murders of black residents of Shakespeare-and a dogged policeman is determined to stop the killing. But it is Lily herself who may have to decide whether to stay and fight for justice, or run away one more time.

NOW A HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES ORIGINAL STARRING CANDACE CAMERON BURE!In this mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, part-time librarian Aurora “Roe” Teagarden lands smack in the middle of a baffling murder case—when death comes from out of the blue…   Roe never liked Detective Sergeant Jack Burns, but she never wanted to see him dead—especially dropped from a plane right into her own front yard. Luckily, even Lawrenceton, Georgia’s finest know that Roe couldn’t possibly be in two places at once, so her name is crossed off the suspect list.   But then other strange things happen around Roe, ranging from peculiar (her irascible cat turns up wearing a pink ribbon) to violent (her assistant at the library is attacked) to potentially deadly (her ex-lover is stabbed). Clearly there is a personal message in this madness that Roe must decipher—before it is too late...

*DON’T MISS THE SECOND SEASON OF MIDNIGHT, TEXAS*, THE NBC TV SERIES BASED ON CHARLAINE HARRIS’S BESTSELLING NOVELS! The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels returns to the one-stoplight town of Midnight, Texas, a place where no one is quite what they seem…  ** There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, where the residents like to keep to themselves. When psychic Manfred Bernardo finds himself embroiled in a scandal and hounded by the press after one of his regular clients dies during a reading, he turns to enigmatic, beautiful, and dangerous Olivia Charity for help. Somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight... Includes an excerpt of* Night Shift* **Review Praise for Charlaine Harris and her Novels of Midnight, Texas “The Mark Twain of things that live under your bed”—Houston Press “[An] out-of-the-ordinary mystery.”—Publishers Weekly “Fun but creepy...A very quirky mystery that reveals more fascinating details about the varied denizens of this little town.”—Locus “A little magic, a little mystery, and a lot of imagination make for a story that is both fun and edgy.”—Kirkus Reviews “As intimate and deep as the Stackhouse novels.”—Library Journal “Move over Bon Temps, Midnight Texas has arrived.”—Fresh Fiction About the Author Charlaine Harris is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

Welcome back to Shakespeare -- a charming Arkansas town with endless back roads, an eclectic mix of residents, and a dollop of noir. Featuring cleaning woman/karate expert Lily Bard, Charlaine Harris\'s series puts a unique spin on the traditional cozy to create mysteries that "work on every level". — In the latest installment, Lily discovers lifelong Shakespeare resident Deedra Dean murdered inside a car parked in a woodsy area outside town. Determined not to get involved, Lily wants to leave the police work to Sheriff Marta Schuster and her team of deputies, and concentrate on cleaning, high kicks, and her boyfriend Jack\'s impending visit. But when Deedra\'s notoriously promiscuous lifestyle provides an extensive list of suspects but very few clues, Lily has no choice but to resume the roll of amateur detective and join the investigation. In this fourth book in Charlaine Harris\'s highly acclaimed and darkly compelling series, Lily Bard delivers a hard-hitting mix of Southern charm and street smarts, a combination so alluring that long-time readers and newcomers will be dying to visit Shakespeare again.

Lily Bard heads home for the holidays. Lily heads to her hometown of Bartley for her estranged sister?s Christmas Eve wedding. But there is something in the air besides holiday cheer?there?s murder. And Lily must work fast to clean up the messy case before her sister promises to love, honor, and obey a killer.

For the first time together in one volume, the complete short story collection starring Sookie Stackhouse—with a new introduction from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the series, Charlaine Harris. For the first time together in one volume, here is the complete short story collection starring Louisiana’s favorite telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. New fans can fill in the gaps in their Sookie lore while old friends can revisit some of their favorite moments and characters. From investigating the murder of a local fairy to learning that her cousin was a vampire, from remodeling her best friend’s house to attending a wedding with her shapeshifting boss, Sam, Sookie navigates the perils and pitfalls of the paranormal world. Belly up to the bar at Bon Temps’s favorite watering hole and hear stories that will make you wish Sookie never left, including... “Fairy Dust” “One Word Answer” “Dracula Night” “Lucky” “Gift Wrap” “Two Blondes” “If I Had a Hammer” “Small-Town Wedding” “Playing Possum” “In the Blue Hereafter” This definitive collection is the perfect binge read for people who like their stories with bite! **Review Praise for Charlaine Harris and her Sookie Stackhouse novels   “It’s the kind of book you look forward to reading before you go to bed, thinking you’re only going to read one chapter, and then you end up reading seven.”—Alan Ball, executive producer of True Blood “Vivid, subtle, and funny in her portrayal of southern life.”—Entertainment Weekly “Charlaine Harris has vividly imagined telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse and her small-town Louisiana milieu where humans, vampires, shapeshifters, and other sentient critters live…Her mash-up of genres is delightful, taking elements from mysteries, horror stories, and romances.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “The series continues to be inventive and funny with an engaging, smart, and sexy heroine.”—The Denver Post “Blending action, romance, and comedy, Harris has created a fully functioning world so very close to our own, except, of course, for the vamps and other supernatural creatures.”—The Toronto Star About the Author Charlaine Harris is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns to her alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this fourth installment of the Gunnie Rose series.Felicia, Lizbeth Rose's half-sister and a student at the Grigori Rasputin school in San Diego—capital of the Holy Russian Empire—is caught between her own secrets and powerful family struggles. As a granddaughter of Rasputin, she provides an essential service to the hemophiliac Tsar Alexei, providing him the blood transfusions that keep him alive. Felicia is treated like a nonentity at the bedside of the tsar, and at the school she's seen as a charity case with no magical ability. But when Felicia is snatched outside the school, the facts of her heritage begin to surface. Felicia turns out to be far more than the Russian-Mexican Lizbeth rescued. As Felicia's history unravels and her true abilities become known, she...

The Malice Domestic cozy anthology series returns with a new take on mysteries in the Agatha Christie tradition — 30 original tales with historical settings! Included are:The Blackness Before Me, by Mindy QuigleyHonest John Finds a Way, by Michael DellSpirited Death, by Carole Nelson DouglasHome Front Homicide, by Liz MillironThe Unseen Opponent, by P. A. De VoeThe Black Hand, by Peter W. J. HayesThe Trial of Madame Pelletier, by Susanna CalkinsEating Crow, by Carla CoupeMr. Nakamura's Garden, by Valerie O. PattersonA Butler is Born, by Catriona McPhersonNight and Fog, by Marcia TalleyThe Seven, by Elaine VietsThe Lady's Maid Vanishes, by Susan DalyYou Always Hurt the One You Love, by Shawn Reilly SimmonsThe Hand of an Angry God, by K. B. IngleeThe Cottage, by Charles ToddThe Measured Chest, by Mark ThielmanHe Done Her Wrong, by Kathryn O'SullivanThe Corpse Candle, by Martin EdwardsDeath on the Dueling Grounds,...

Take a trip to the small town where only outsiders fit in with the first novel in Charlaine Harris’ paranormal mystery series—as seen in NBC’s primetime television series Midnight, Texas.  **Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and the Davy highway. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town. There’s a pawnshop with three residents. One is seen only at night. There’s a diner, but people stopping there tend not to linger. There’s a newcomer, Manfred Bernardo, who just wants to work hard and blend in. But Manfred has secrets of his own... **From Booklist Harris comes off the ending of her wildly popular Sookie Stackouse series with a new mystery-romance-paranormal mash-up, slated as the first in a planned trilogy. The inhabitants of Midnight, Texas, have all chosen the derelict little town for its size and its ­quietness—it’s a great place to hide. But what are they hiding from? Bobo Winthrop, proprietor of the local pawn shop, seems to know a little bit about everyone in town, and they all have secrets. The new tenant in the basement of the pawn shop only comes out after dark, while New Age instructor Fiji Cavanaugh openly claims to be a witch and can talk to her cat, Mr. Snuggly. When Bobo’s girlfriend, Aubrey, disappears, people start to ask too many questions, and everyone begins to fear that their pasts will be exposed, along with Aubrey’s. Although it’s much lighter on the paranormal elements than Harris’ usual fare, this should still make the lists of readers who miss Sookie and company. HIGH DEMAND BACKSTORY: Between her books and the HBO spin-off True Blood, Harris has a large fan base. Now that both the print and the television series have ended, they’re looking for something new to read. --Rebecca Vnuk Review Praise for Charlaine Harris and Her Novels of Midnight, Texas “[Harris is] the Mark Twain of things that live under your bed.”—Houston Press “[An] out-of-the-ordinary mystery.”—Publishers Weekly “More addictive and more satisfying than a class A drug.”—SFBook “A little magic, a little mystery, and a lot of imagination make for a story that is both fun and edgy.”—Kirkus Reviews “As intimate and deep as the Stackhouse novels.”—Library Journal “Move over Bon Temps, Midnight, Texas, has arrived.”—Fresh Fiction

**Includes a brand-new story featuring Sookie Stackhouse and Manfred Bernardo ALL-NEW TALES OF UNUSUAL ATHLETICS BY JAN BURKE * DANA CAMERON * ADAM-TROY CASTRO * BRENDAN DuBOIS * CHARLAINE HARRIS * TONI L. P. KELNER * CAITLIN KITTREDGE * WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER * ELLEN KUSHNER * MERCEDES LACKEY * JOE R. LANSDALE * LAURA LIPPMAN * SEANAN McGUIRE * BRANDON SANDERSON * SCOTT SIGLER Welcome to the wide world of paranormal pastimes, where striking out might strike you dead. Editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner are your announcers for this all-new story collection of the most peculiar plays ever made… Sports fans live and die by their teams’ successes and failures—though not literally. But these fourteen authors have written spirited—in more ways than one—new tales of killer competitions that would make even the most die-hard players ask to be benched. In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s “The Blue Hereafter,” Manfred Bernardo learns about softball from a certain blond barmaid in Louisiana. Life-and-death stakes make the competition get serious in New York Times bestseller William Kent Krueger’s “Hide and Seek.” New York Times bestselling author Mercedes Lackey’s “False Knight on the Road” features a high-stakes drag race on a foggy mountain road between a clever young bootlegger and a mysterious stranger. In New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman’s “Ice,” a young girl learns the true story behind a bit of neighborhood folklore. New York Times bestseller Seanan McGuire presents “Jammed,” in which a chimera loose during the Roller Derby makes it anyone’s guess as to who will still be skating by the time the buzzer sounds. In #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson’s “Dreamer,” a game of cops and robbers is a new challenge when the players are able to switch bodies at will. And New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler follows ghost stomper Hunter Hunterson as he investigates a haunted, never-ending baseball game in “The Case of the Haunted Safeway.” These and eight more supernatural sporting stories are guaranteed to have you rooting for the home team…or else… Introduction BY CHARLAINE HARRIS AND TONI L. P. KELNER IN THE BLUE HEREAFTER BY CHARLAINE HARRIS HIDE AND SEEK BY WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER STEPPING INTO THE DEAD ZONE BY JAN BURKE DEAD ON THE BONES BY JOE R. LANSDALE THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO BOSTON BY CAITLIN KITTREDGE ON THE PLAYING FIELDS OF BLOOD BY BRENDAN DUBOIS THE GOD’S GAMES BY DANA CAMERON THE CASE OF THE HAUNTED SAFEWAY BY SCOTT SIGLER PRISE DE FER BY ELLEN KUSHNER DREAMER BY BRANDON SANDERSON FALSE KNIGHT ON THE ROAD BY MERCEDES LACKEY JAMMED BY SEANAN MCGUIRE HIDE AND SHRIEK BY ADAM-TROY CASTRO ICE BY LAURA LIPPMAN BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLEPIN BY TONI L. P. KELNER

Product DescriptionNew in the #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series-the basis for HBO(r)'s True Blood! With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows... About the AuthorCharlaine Harris writes both fantasies and mysteries. She lives in southern Arkansas with her family.

Lily Bard is a loner. Fiercely protective of her independence, she concentrates on her karate skills and her work as the proprietor of a cleaning and errand-running service, and pays little attention to the town around her. When her landlord is murdered, though, she looks like the prime suspect. Uncovering the real killer may be the only way to prove her innocence, and Lily realizes that she must focus on the other residents of tiny Shakespeare. Her job gives her easy access to people's private lives, and she begins to snoop, finding plenty of skeleton-filled closets, and exposing herself to the unwanted attentions of a murderer.

Three new stories in one delicious volume of horror and romanceHer Best Enemy by USA TODAY bestselling author Maggie Shayne Kiley Brigham refuses to believe there's a ghost in her house, but when an unseen hand leaves a bloody message on her bathroom mirror, she's forced to turn to local psychic Jack McCain. As the two work to uncover a long-buried secret, Kiley finds that she's haunted not by spirits, but by thoughts of Jack. . . Someone Else's Shadow by Nebula Award-nominated author Barbara Hambly Maddie Laveau worries about her young roommate, Tessa, when she stays late to practice ballet in the old Glendower Building. . .and when Tessa goes missing, Maddie enlists mysterious tenant Phil Anderson to help. But is Phil the white knight she needs, or the predator she fears? Dancers in the Dark by Anthony Award-winning author Charlaine harris Layla Rue Le May is no ordinary dancer-her partner, Sean McClendon, is a three-hundred-year-old redheaded vampire. So when Layla Rue acquires a stalker, she's forced to face the music. . .and wonder if this will finally be her last dance.

It’s vampire politics as usual around the town of Bon Temps, but never before have they hit so close to Sookie’s heart... Growing up with telepathic abilities, Sookie Stackhouse realized early on there were things she’d rather not know. And now that she’s an adult, she also realizes that some things she knows about, she’d rather not see—like Eric Northman feeding off another woman. A younger one. There’s a thing or two she’d like to say about that, but she has to keep quiet—Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric’s front yard—especially the body of the woman whose blood he just drank. Now, it’s up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who’s set out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down.Amazon.com ReviewA conversation with Charlaine Harris, best-selling author of Deadlocked, and Laurell K. Hamilton, best-selling author of Kiss the DeadQuestion: Did you ever imagine that your series would run as long as it has?Charlaine Harris: I was just glad to sell the first book. It took two years of my agent sending it out to get a bite. I never even dreamed that Sookie would be so popular, that I would find so much to say about her and her world.Laurell K. Hamilton: No. I had over two hundred rejections for the first Anita Blake novel. They were the nicest rejections, with editors suggesting other publishing houses to send it to, but they, themselves, couldn't figure out how to market it. When I got that first three book contract, I remember thinking, "Well, at least I'll get to write three of them." I actually did think I had at least ten books in Anita and her world, but I don't think anyone can plan to write twenty-one novels in a series and still be excited about starting the twenty-second.Did you ever dream paranormal would be this hot?LKH: I remember being told that mixed genre didn't sell, before the term paranormal became a genre. I was also told that no one wanted to read about vampires. More than one editor told me that particular monster was dead and gone. I thought there was life left in the old legends, but I never saw this level of popularity coming. CH: Yes, even my agent didn't expect Dead Until Dark would be an easy sell, maybe especially since my books contained a lot of humor. Vampires were passé, and books that crossed genres (Except for yours: I think you had three or four books out when I wrote the first Sookie, and I was so glad to discover them!) were called "unshelvable.’ I could never have anticipated shelves and shelves of cross-genre books. Does fan response play a part in your planning process?CH: Not in the sense of changing plot direction in my novels. This is my story to tell, and I have to write it the way I see it. But every now and then when reader response to a character is unexpectedly enthusiastic--or the opposite--I'll take a second look at that character to see why he/she is coming across in a way I didn't expect or anticipate. LKH: I don't change plot direction for fan reaction either. My story, my world, my books, my stuff, my way. The only people who can change the direction of my novels are my characters. It's their life, after all, so if they're really insistent on a different plot, then they win. I agree that reader response to a character can make me puzzle over them more, but it doesn't usually change how often the character is on stage, or how big their role is, because weirdly if the fans are interested, then I'm already intrigued. Best example is Edward who started out as this cold blooded assassin, almost a bad guy, and now he's one of Anita's best friends, and he's a U. S. Marshal. So, not what I had planned for him. Have you ever had a character totally surprise you with their choices?LKH: A lot of my characters have minds of their own. Edward went away on his own and got himself engaged to a woman with two children from her first marriage. Edward-- assassin, ex-military, current police officer, taking a six-year-old to ballet lessons with all the other moms both amuses and hurts my head. Anita's love life went into a completely different direction than I'd ever anticipated. I so didn't see Anita dating this many men, or being in love with more than one man, and having everyone she loved okay with that. CH: I've discovered some surprising things about my characters as I wrote them. I know that their minds are really my mind, but sometimes it doesn't feel that way. It's like knowing a character has a secret (I'm thinking of Bill), and then suddenly realizing what that secret is. I was genuinely aghast. Sometimes my creative brain thinks a lot faster than my conscious brain. And it's certainly a lot more devious. How do you keep a world with paranormal elements credible?CH: I anchored my skewed world with real-life elements. Sookie has to pay her bills, she has to do her laundry, and she has family obligations. My vampires buy their clothes at the mall. My werewolf runs a surveying business. One of my fairies works in customer service at a department store. Readers seem to enjoy the fact that no matter what creature you may be, there's a process of surviving that has to be gone through; but there's all these other elements that make that process so different. LKH: I make sure any real life facts are as real and well-researched as possible. Because I'm asking people to believe in vampires, wereanimals, and zombies, I need to make sure the guns, cars, and real crime are as realistic as possible. Once a reader catches me wrong in an area where they are expert they won't believe my monsters are real. But I have found if I'm right on the hard facts even experts will let me fudge, or take that next fantastic leap, because I've proven myself by laying the foundation of reality to make my leap into the unknown. Do people ever expect you to be your characters?LKH: If I had known people would get confused between fiction and fact I'd have made Anita look less like me, but it just never occurred to me that there would be a problem. I've had fans want to know what weapons I'm carrying. They assume all the men are based on real people, and they aren't. I don't actually base characters on real people. Since I can't lighten Anita's hair, I've lightened my own and I get less fan confusion. I've had fans ask for the phone numbers of the men and get angry when I tried to explain I couldn't give them the contact info for a fictional character. CH: Ha! Well, I'm much older and rounder than Sookie, so I'm definitely no stand-in for Sookie. In fact, readers who have never met me before are usually astonished when they meet me; so were the actors on True Blood. Some of my readers who came to me after watching True Blood get the characters in the books sort of conflated with the actors who play them on television. In their minds, Alexander Skarsgard IS Eric, Stephen Moyer IS Bill. It can lead to some confusing questions when I'm at signings. What scenes in your novels are the most fun for you to write? Action? Sex? Relationship drama?CH: All of those are fun, depending on the outcome! But I have to say, I love to write a good fight scene. I find the "relationship" scenes a challenge. When people talk about their relationships, it's a messy conversation. People aren't too articulate about their innermost feelings. And such conversations don't proceed in a linear way, but jag back and forth as each speaker voices the issues that are most important to that person. So it's hard to make sound realistic, coherent, and yet condense such a conversation enough to make it tolerable. LKH: It depends on my mood. Sometimes a good fight scene can be very therapeutic, and give a productive outlet for negative emotions. The more people involved in the action the more complex the fight choreography can become, and that can be a challenge, and slow down the emotional content for me. I enjoy doing sex scenes, but they are a different kind of challenge. On a day when I can get in the mood for the scene, they’re great, but on a day when real life interferes, it’s a bit like real sex. It’s hard to concentrate on it when you have too many interruptions from the non-sexy side of your life. I guess that’s true of all writing, though, too many interruptions disrupt the process in general. The biggest challenge for the sex scenes is that sex is a very personal and individual activity, so I have the same girl involved, but different men and I want each man’s style to be unique. Relationship drama? Yuck, can I just say, yuck again? This kind of drama isn’t fun in real life and the only thing that makes fictional relationship drama tolerable is that it’s fictional, and I’m not having to endure it in my real life, but other than that it sucks just as much. It also tends to complicate my life as a writer, because almost nothing screws up a story arc like relationship choices, though I have had action scenes go so differently from what I’d planned that an entire third of a book had to be thrown out. It was a better book for it, but still, near deadline that was hard. What’s the hardest thing about writing such a long running series?LKH: The beginning of the book is easy, because you always want that to be interesting and lure in both old and new readers. It’s the middle of the book that becomes more complicated. As a writer you always have to think that you may have brand new readers picking up your book, so you have to explain the characters, the world, everything, but you don’t want to over explain to the long time readers. The other problem with a series is that each book needs to stand alone as much as possible, but you also want character growth and world development from novel to novel, so again, it’s a balancing act. I make sure that each opening is different enough that you won’t be left wondering, did I read that already. It’s an issue I’ve had with other series that I read. It gets very challenging when you get in double digits to make everything fresh, but familiar. I’m lucky that I’m still discovering new things about Anita, Jean-Claude, Edward, Nathaniel, everyone, and the world continues to grow and surprise me. My fictional world is like the real one, I never know quite what’s coming next. CH: The hardest thing is keeping track of previous developments and details. My memory just wasn't up to it, and I had to hire someone (the fabulous Victoria Koski). When you create a world, there are a thousand small things that make it credible, and it's easier than you'd think to forget whether someone is a werefox or a werelynx, or whether it's still daytime during the narrative or if you've passed into darkness. I think it's important to catch as many little errors as you can, so readers don't get yanked out of the world. I'm not the kind of reader who notices, but there are many readers who do.Photo Laurell K. Hamilton © Stefan HesterPhoto Charlaine Harris © Sigrid EstradaReview“Harris is a master at taking several paranormal worlds and plunging them into our reality with humor.” *Tulsa World“The Sookie Stackhouse series seamlessly mixes sensuality, violence and humor as readers experience the people of small-town Louisiana through Sookie’s eyes.” Boulder Weekly*

There's more to Sookie Stackhouse than you ever knew...The #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris spawned a hit TV show and captivated fans around the world—including other authors. Now this group of writers, specifically chosen by Charlaine, pays tribute to "the southern, mind-reading belle who gets mixed up in the world of vampires and magical creatures" (The Kansas City Star) with a collection of fifteen all-new stories about your favorite residents of Bon Temps.With contributions byRachel CaineDana CameronBill CriderMaryJanice DavidsonLeigh EvansChristopher GoldenNancy HolderDean JamesToni L. P. KelnerJonathan MaberryJeff MariotteSeanan McGuireSuzanne McLeodNicole PeelerJeanne C. Stein

SUMMARY: Love at first sight turns into newlywed bliss for former librarian Aurora Teagarden— until violence cuts the honeymoon short.Wealthy businessman Martin Bartell gives Roe exactly what she wants for their wedding: Julius House. But both the house and Martin come with murky pasts. And when Roe is attacked by an ax-wielding maniac, she realizes that the secrets inside her four walls—and her brand-new marriage—could destroy her.

Every Sookie Stackhouse short story ever written – in one special volume – from the New York Times bestselling author. New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris has re-imagined the supernatural world with her 'spunky' (Tampa Tribune) Southern Vampire novels starring telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Now, for the first time, here is every Sookie Stackhouse short story ever written – together in one volume. Stories include 'Fairy Dust,' 'One Word Answer,' 'Dracula Night,' 'Lucky,' and 'Giftwrap.'

From Publishers WeeklyBestseller Harris's exciting third Harper Connelly mystery (after 2006's Grave Surprise) finds the psychic sleuth faced with her most challenging and heartbreaking job to date: locating the bodies of runaway boys who the people of Doraville, N.C., suspect have become victims of a serial killer. After Harper locates eight long-dead bodies, much to the surprise of skeptical Sheriff Sandra Rockwell, a mysterious figure attacks Harper. Though all Harper wants is to go home and recover from her injuries, the local authorities and State Bureau of Investigation agents demand that she stay in town to help with their investigation. The cold case heats up fast, attracting media attention as well as Harper's friends, ailing psychic Xylda Bernardo and her doting grandson, Manfred, who make another gruesome discovery. Harper's changing relationship with her stepbrother, manager and confidant, Tolliver Lang, lends personal interest. Harris dependably delivers fear with charming down-home finesse. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistAfter being struck by lightning as a teenager, Harper Connelly has developed the unique ability to find the dead and see how they died. She and her stepbrother, Tolliver Lang, run a business in which they travel the country assisting law-enforcement personnel and family members of the dead. In her third case, Harper is hired by a woman to find her missing grandson. In fact, numerous teenage boys have disappeared from Doraville, North Carolina. Harper finds the bodies, but still reeling from coming into contact with her first serial killer, she is attacked and injured. She stays in Doraville to recover and assist in the investigation. Harris' series makes the most of its unusual premise, using the paranormal elements to good effect. She has also created a winning heroine; Harper is a caring person who gives closure to victims' families often at great cost to herself as she deals with the skepticism of the law-enforcement community. Her developing relationship with Tolliver grows and changes in this installment. Sue O'Brien

"Immersive, involving, suspenseful, and intriguing, with a main character you'll love." —Lee Child, #1 internationally bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels "When a master of her craft offers to tell you a story, let her. The results are dazzling." —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning Wayward Children series. The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the inspiration for HBO's True Blood, and the Midnight Crossroad trilogy adapted for NBC's Midnight, Texas, has written a taut new thriller—the first in the Gunnie Rose series—centered on a young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose.

From Publishers WeeklyFour well-known fantasy writers bring magical dogs into the plots of otherwise standard paranormal novellas. Harris's urban fantasy, The Britlingens Go to Hell, pits bodyguards Batanya and Clovache against demons, wolfwomen and two hellhounds guarding some unusual prisoners. In Singh's paranormal romance, Angels' Judgment, vampire trackers Sara and Deacon must discover who is murdering vampires; one suspect owns a hellhound. In Andrews's sexy Magic Mourns, Andrea, a knight who helps people with magic problems, links with a shape-shifter to find a stolen corpse, but first they must get by a three-headed dog. In Brook's page-turning romance Blind Spot, Maggie Wren, CIA operative turned vampire's personal assistant, teams up with a hellhound to find her boss's kidnapped niece. Only the most obsessive dog fanciers will be really enthralled by the passing mentions of canines. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Product DescriptionFour big names in paranormal-four adventures starring man's worst friend... In these four original novellas, readers follow paranormal bodyguards into Lucifer's realm, where they'll encounter his fearsome four-legged pets; seek out a traitor in the midst of a guild of non-lethal vampire trackers, one who intends to eradicate the entire species of bloodsuckers; find out why the giant three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades has left the underworld for the real world; and embark on a perilous search for the kidnapped niece of a powerful vampire alongside her blind-and damn sexy-companion and a hellhound.

SUMMARY:It's a simple if shocking question, and former librarian Aurora Teagarden is just the person to find the answer. Basking in an inheritance that makes her financially independent, Roe's looking for a new occupation. Her days as a librarian are over. Real estate might be fun, she thinks. And who better to teach her the tricks of the trade than her Lauren Bacall look-alike mother, Aida Brattle Teagarden Queensland, who happens to own one of the major real estate firms in town? Signing on as an apprentice, Roe agrees to show an expensive house to some out-of-town clients. The house has its charms, but the clients are not too thrilled with what's been left behind in the master bedroom: the corpse of real estate woman Tonia Lee Greenhouse. And Tonia's only the first victim. It quickly becomes clear that the killer is someone familiar with the real estate community in Lawrenceton, someone who has access to the houses that are on the market. Roe's not too sure she likes real estate, after all. She hadn't counted on murder. But she definitely likes her well-to-do client, Martin Bartell. In fact, it may be love at first sight. With memorable characters and lots of small-town southern charm, this witty and wise mystery proves that author Charlaine Harris is among the best of the new generation of crime writers.

### From Publishers Weekly This patchwork anthology of 13 new vampire stories proves that heavyweight contributors can give some substance to a relatively slight theme. Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse novels), Kelner (the Laura Fleming mysteries) and 11 other writers with serious vamp credentials craft stories around the concept of birthdays for bloodsuckers. Most of the tales only blow out candles in passing, as with P.N. Elrod's Grave-Robbed, which mixes pathos and comedy as vampire PI Jack Fleming busts a phony medium mid-séance, and Tanya Huff's Blood Wrapped, in which Henry Fitzroy's search for the ideal gift for a vampire's 40th mixes with his pursuit of a human kidnapper. Christopher Golden takes birthdays to heart in his poignant coming-of-age story, The Mournful Cry of Owls, while Kelley Armstrong proposes in Twilight that a vampire's real birthday is the date of transformation from mortal to immortal. Fans of the many series vampires on parade here will be undeterred by the variable quality of their adventures. _(Sept.)_ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### From Experienced genre hands ensure the high quality of 13 stories about birthdays and vampires. The opening story uses Charlaine Harris' series star Sookie Stackhouse, who, as the only nonvampire at a Dracula's birthday ball, finds herself on the menu. Dropping by a role-playing party with his brother's present, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden must deal with deadly party crashers. A pair of vampires tracks down a serial killer in Toni L. P. Kelner's "How Stella Got Her Grave Back." More chillingly, a vampire knows she must kill to live another year but is strangely reluctant in Kelly Armstrong's "Twilight," and in Elaine Viets' humorous "Vampire Hours," a woman deliberately chooses damnation. Murray, Frieda

Dropped by her agent, New York City model Nickie Callahan decides to start over—moving back to the South to finish school at Houghton College in Knolls, Tennessee. But Knolls isn't the quiet town Nickie remembers from her youth. A rapist is targeting the women of Houghton, growing bolder and more vicious with each brutal attack, leaving the community gripped by fear.When the violence affects Nickie personally, she moves from fear to fury—resolving to catch the rapist at any cost. After joining forces with another survivor, Nickie discovers that the attacks are not random—the rapist knows his victims. With that small clue, and an ironclad determination to stop him from striking again, Nickie begins the grim search for the relentless assailant hiding in plain sight.

Armed with a hefty inheritance, Aurora "Roe" Teagarden is embarking on a new career in real estate. But her first showing is murder, when the elegant master bedroom reveals the body of a real-estate broker. When a second body appears at her next showing, Roe realizes that her new career may suddenly come to a dead end.

SUMMARY:When librarian Aurora Teagarden becomes the unexpected beneficiary of a colleague's estate, she stumbles upon the skeleton of a murder victim and sets out to clear the name of her late friend, but the real killer is still watching and waiting nearby. Reprint. AB. PW.

THE FINAL SOOKIE STACKHOUSE NOVEL There are secrets in the town of Bon Temps, ones that threaten those closest to Sookie—and could destroy her heart....Sookie Stackhouse  finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated.Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime.But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough…Review“The Sookie Stackhouse series seamlessly mixes sensuality, violence, and humor.”—Boulder Weekly “Harris’s creation offers a magical and mysterious twist on traditional vampire stories.”—Houston Chronicle “What sucked me in? Definitely the books’ oddly charming, often funny mix of the mundane and the absurd. And the chills and thrills in boudoirs and various locales around the South aren’t too bad either.”—The Seattle TimesAbout the AuthorCharlaine Harris is a New York Times bestselling author for both her Sookie Stackhouse fantasy/mystery series and her Harper Connelly Prime Crime mystery series. She has lived in the South her entire life.

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

SUMMARY:Love at first sight turns into newlywed bliss for former librarian Aurora Teagarden— until violence cuts the honeymoon short.Wealthy businessman Martin Bartell gives Roe exactly what she wants for their wedding: Julius House. But both the house and Martin come with murky pasts. And when Roe is attacked by an ax-wielding maniac, she realizes that the secrets inside her four walls—and her brand-new marriage—could destroy her.

Two to TangoFeaturing characters who also appeared in All Together Dead, this exclusive double issue includes two novellas by #1 bestselling author, Charlaine Harris: Dancers in the Dark, and her brand new novella, Layla Steps Up.In Dancers in the Dark, a young woman on the run from a violent stalker finds protection—and temptation—in the arms of a brooding centuries-old vampire.In Layla Steps Up, a fragile new vampire must finally face and embrace her immortal powers in order to save her maker from an ex-lover with a taste for torture.Blending supernatural suspense and sizzling seduction, the two intertwined stories in this collection will be sure to please fans of Charlaine Harris's #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse vampire series and its HBO television adaptation, True Blood.

Investigative reporter Nora Hesper spends her nights cloaked in shadows. As Indigo, she's become an urban myth, a brutal vigilante who can forge darkness into weapons and travel across the city by slipping from one patch of shadow to another. Her primary focus both as Nora and as Indigo has become a murderous criminal cult called the Children of Phonos. Children are being murdered in New York, and Nora is determined to make it stop, even if that means Indigo must eliminate every member. But in the aftermath of a bloody battle, a dying cultist makes claims that cause Indigo to question her own origin and memories. Nora's parents were killed when she was nineteen years old. She took the life insurance money and went off to explore the world, leading to her becoming a student of meditation and strange magic in a mountaintop monastery in Nepal...a history that many would realize sounds suspiciously like the origins of several comic book characters. As Nora starts to pick...

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the beloved Sookie Stackhouse novels brings you a reader-favorite tale of passion and terror. Grant Sullivan is the best agent the US government has ever had, and he has one mission: rescue the wealthy socialite Jane Hamilton Greer from captivity. But is Jane just a society girl in over her head, or is she really engaged in espionage that could compromise US interests for years to come? Only one thing is certain: when Grant finds Jane, questions of guilt and innocence begin to fade against the undeniable attraction between this fiery couple…

Now best known for her New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse novels, Charlaine Harris hit "a home run the first time out" (Birmingham News) with the story of a murder that embroils a small-town reporter in mystery that hits close to home… Catherine Linton has returned to her hometown of Lowfield, Mississippi, unconvinced that the death of her parents in a car crash six months earlier was an accident. And her suspicions are confirmed when she stumbles upon the dead and beaten body of her doctor-father's longtime nurse. There are secrets being kept in Lowfield. And the town where Catherine grew up may be the same place where she is sent to her grave…

From bestselling author Charlaine Harris and rising star Amanda Stevens come two otherworldly tales sure to haunt readers well after the last page is turned. Dancers in the Dark #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris Layla Rue Le May is no ordinary dancer--her partner, Sean McClendon, is a three-hundred-year-old redheaded vampire. When Layla Rue acquires a stalker, she's forced to face the music...and wonder if this will finally be her last dance. The Devil's Footprints Award-winning author Amanda Stevens Years after her sister's unsolved murder, Sarah DeLaune is haunted by the mysteries of her past when two mutilated bodies are found near Sarah's New Orleans home, the crime scene desecrated by cloven footprints. Sarah has always believed that her sister was killed by a man named Ashe Cain. But no one else has ever seen Ashe. Until now.

Sookie Stackhouse has one last adventure in store.Life has taken her from a waitress in Merlotte's Bar, Bon Temps, to part owner; from social outcast to the heart of her community; from a vampire's girlfriend to the wife of one of the most powerful vampires in the state.She has survived explosions, revolutions and attempts on her life. Sookie has endured betrayal, heartbreak and grief... and she has emerged a little stronger, and little wiser, every time.But with life comes new trials...The question is, in the end: who will love, who will live, and who will be dead ever after?

EDITORIAL REVIEW: **The editors of *Wolfsbane and Mistletoe* and *Many Bloody Returns* deliver a new collection-including a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story. ** *New York Times* bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Katie MacAlister, Jeaniene Frost-plus Lilith Saintcrow, Jeff Abbott, and more-send postcards from the edge of the paranormal world to fans who devoured *Wolfsbane and Mistletoe* and *Many Bloody Returns*. With an all-new Sookie Stackhouse story and twelve other original tales, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner bring together a stellar collection of tour guides who offer vacations that are frightening, funny, and touching for the fanged, the furry, the demonic, and the grotesque. Learn why it really can be an endless summer-for immortals.

Sookie Stackhouse has one last adventure in store.   Life has taken her from a waitress in Merlotte's Bar, Bon Temps, to part owner; from social outcast to the heart of her community; from a vampire's girlfriend to the wife of one of the most powerful vampires in the state.   She has survived explosions, revolutions and attempts on her life. Sookie has endured betrayal, heartbreak and grief... and she has emerged a little stronger, and little wiser, every time. But with life comes new trials...

For the first time together in one volume, the complete short story collection starring Sookie Stackhouse—with a new introduction from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the series, Charlaine Harris. For the first time together in one volume, here is the complete short story collection starring Louisiana's favorite telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse—from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. New fans can fill in the gaps in their Sookie lore while old friends can revisit some of their favorite moments and characters. From investigating the murder of a local fairy to learning that her cousin was a vampire, from remodeling her best friend's house to attending a wedding with her shapeshifting boss, Sam, Sookie navigates the perils and pitfalls of the paranormal world.Belly up to the bar at Bon Temps's favorite watering hole and hear stories that will make you wish Sookie never left, including..."Fairy...

“Immersive, involving, suspenseful, and intriguing, with a main character you’ll love.” —Lee Child, #1 internationally bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels “When a master of her craft offers to tell you a story, let her. The results are dazzling.” —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning Wayward Children series. The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the inspiration for HBO’s True Blood, and the Midnight Crossroad trilogy adapted for NBC’s Midnight, Texas, has written a taut new thriller—the first in the Gunnie Rose series—centered on a young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose. Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life. As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.

Shakespeare, Arkansas, is a small Southern town with plenty of secrets, and Charlaine Harris's Lily Bard is just one more of its residents - albeit one harboring a few secrets of her own - with a desire to live quietly. Lily keeps to herself, between her job as a cleaning woman for several townspeople and her visits to the gym, where she's a devotee of karate and bodybuilding. These two pursuits seem a bit odd for the petite Southern woman, but as work and play, they keep her focused and balanced. When a fellow gym member is found dead after a workout with a barbell across his throat, Lily wants to believe it's an accident. But looking at the incident against the background of other recent events in Shakespeare, including a few incidents that appear to be racially motivated, she's afraid it could be a part of something much, much bigger - and much more sinister.

SUMMARY: When librarian Aurora Teagarden becomes the unexpected beneficiary of a colleague's estate, she stumbles upon the skeleton of a murder victim and sets out to clear the name of her late friend, but the real killer is still watching and waiting nearby. Reprint. AB. PW.