Shakespeare’s Christmas
by
Charlaine Harris
suspense, cozy mystery, noir mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by JABberwocky Literary Agency Inc. on January 9, 2023 and has 225 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Night's Edge, Death's Excellent Vacation, Must Love Hellhounds, Dead Reckoning, Bite, A Secret Rage, Home Improvement: Undead Edition, Deadlocked, An Apple for the Creature, Dead Ever After, The Sookie Stackhouse Companion, Games Creatures Play, After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse, Indigo, Night Shift, Sleep Like a Baby, The Pretenders, A Longer Fall, An Easy Death, The Russian Cage, Small Kingdoms and Other Stories, Real Murders, A Bone to Pick, Three Bedrooms, One Corpse, Dead Until Dark, The Julius House, Dead Over Heels, A Fool and His Honey, Shakespeare’s Landlord, Last Scene Alive, Shakespeare’s Champion, Poppy Done to Death, Shakespeare’s Trollop, Shakespeare's Counselor
Third in the Lily Bard cozy-ish, noir suspense series revolving around a cleaning woman/karate expert with PTSD in Shakespeare, Arkansas.
My Take
Harris uses a first person protagonist point-of-view from Lily’s perspective, and I can tell ya now, Lily is not excited about Carlton’s suggestion that she have a more physical presence in town, lol.
Whoa, Lily talks about her family and how they treat her now, after her kidnapping and rapes, and it’s danged sad. Especially Varena for her not understanding why Lily hasn’t moved on from her ordeal. (It’s Dill’s words that have her so angry at Varena, as enlightening as they may be.) When Jack shows up in Bartley, well, Lily is surprised and her family is happy.
Lily’s character growth continues as she thinks how different things might have been if she’d stayed in Bartley.
Gerald, Lily’s father, is a crack-up. Feigning abhorrence for all the wedding planning Lily notes how delighted he actually seems, lol.
Harris does keep us in suspense with all the possible victims and bad people. Lord knows, Harris drops enough red herrings!
Per usual, Shakespeare’s Christmas is split between Lily’s thoughts and actions, as we relive some of Lily’s past.
The Story
For Lily Bard, the idea of “going home for Christmas” summons nothing but dread. Back in Bartley, all people see when they look at Lily is a victim. But her sister is getting married, and Lily’s determined to give her family what they want. She’ll be present, be pleasant, and let her sister have the spotlight. Or so she thinks, until she discovers her boyfriend in town on a case, chasing a lead that could blow up the whole celebration.
One of the little girls in Bartley isn’t who she thinks she is. And one of the town’s respectable parents is a cold-blooded kidnapper ready to kill to hide their secrets. For her sister — and her sister’s eight-year-old stepdaughter-to-be — Lily must find the truth. Even if it means she’ll never go home again . . .
The Characters
The prickly Lily Bard knows karate and is a cleaning lady — Shakespeare’s Cleaning and Errands, who has recently added tree decorating to her offerings. Jack Leeds, a disgraced police officer from Memphis, is now a private detective as well as Lily’s boyfriend (Shakespeare’s Champion, 2). Roy Costimiglia and Elizabeth “Aunt Betty” Fry are Jack’s PI friends.
Bartley is . . .
. . . Lily’s hometown where Lily’s parents, Gerald and Frieda, live in Bartley where sister Varena, a nurse, is getting married to Dillard “Dill” Kingery, a pharmacist who has a little girl, Anna. Mrs Lula Kingery is Dill’s reluctant mother who preferred the first wife, Judy. Jay is Dill’s younger brother; Matthew Kingery is a cousin. Berry Duff, Dill’s former college roommate and a farmer, is Dill’s best man. He has two kids, one of whom is Daniel.
Tootsie Monahan is Varena’s lifelong best friend. Janna Russell is the other bridesmaid. Margie Lipscom, a nurse at the local hospital and married to a lawyer, hosts a shower. Emory and Meredith Osborn have a little girl, Eve, and a new baby, Jane Lilith; they bought their house from old Mrs Smitherton. Now they rent a cottage on the grounds to Varena. The O’Sheas are a minister and his wife, Jess and Lou, and they have two children: Krista and baby Luke. Grace Parks is Frieda’s best friend.
Diane Dykeman, a sales clerk, had a purse snatched. Dr Dave LeMay is a local doctor with Binnie Armstrong his nurse. Chandler McAdoo had been Lily’s lab partner in high school and is now the police chief. He’s currently seeing Tootsie (after two stabs at marriage; Cindy had been #2). Roger is one of his officers. Detective Brainerd is investigating the murder. Patsy Green is the florist. Beryl Trotter is the elementary school principal. Sarah Cawthorne owns half of Sarah May’s, a restaurant. Mrs Fontenat had shot her married lover back in 1931. Corbett’s is a gift shop. Christopher Darby Sims is a homeless man. Mary Maude Plummer (formerly Baumgartner) works at a furniture store and had been a friend of Lily’s. Mr Patel manages the motel where Jack is staying. Bobby Mitzer kissed Anna. Shelley is the teenage babysitter with the flu.
Shakespeare is . . .
. . . Lily’s home these days. Her clients include Dr Carrie Thrush, a friend; the Drinkwaters; Dr Sizemore; Deedra Dean; and, Birdie Rossiter with her elderly cocker spaniel, Durwood. Claude Friedrich is the chief of police. Marshall Sedaka, who owns Body Time where Lily takes karate lessons, is also her friend. His students include Carlton Cockcroft, an accountant and Lily’s neighbor; Raphael Roundtree; and, Janet Shook, a friend of Lily’s who teaches a Safe After School program.
The Winthrops, Beanie and Howell III, have fired Lily since events in Shakespeare’s Champion. Their children include Howell III, the college-age Bobo who is Lily’s friend, and Amber Jean. Howell Winthrop I, II’s father, had been a bad boy. Arnita is I’s wife.
Teresa and Simon Macklesby lost Summer Dawn, their baby, who disappeared some eight years ago. Marianna is a saleswoman who’s decking Lily out.
The Cover and Title
The cover is chilly — maybe reflecting Lily’s fears? — with its wintry tablecloth, napkins, and plates. Off-center is a mini Christmas tree as a centerpiece with four white candles and several glass ornaments. The crystal glasses don’t add any warmth. Nor does the black shadowed, white text of the title (mid-tree) and, at the bottom, the info blurb followed by the author’s name. The brightest color comes from the red in a missing poster sitting on the bottom right of the table.
The title is more what Lily comes home to, a Shakespeare’s Christmas.
