Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 2),Free Shipping,B000PDYVK2,

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Product Details Dewey Decimal Number 813 Format Kindle Book Manufacturer Berkley Number Of Items 1 Number Of Pages 224 Publication Date April 11, 2007 Release Date April 11, 2007 Availability Usually ships in 24 hours Product Description 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. No steel magnolia, Lily Bart is one blunt, tough Southern woman--a tiny, karate-chopping, bodybuilding dynamo who's come to Shakespeare, Arkansas, to restart her life after a series of traumatic events just hinted at in this second novel in Charlaine Harris's series (after Shakespeare's Landlord). When she slips into her gym for an early morning workout and finds Del Packard with a barbell across his throat, she doesn't think for more than a second that it's an accident. Not when it's the third death in a couple of months in a town hardly big enough for its own WalMart. Then the blue broadsheets with thinly veiled hints of white supremacist activity start turning up under the windshield wipers of every car on Main Street. Lily's a relative newcomer to Shakespeare, but as a cleaning woman for the local landed gentry, she's privy to many secrets that most outsiders never learn. When a handsome stranger keeps turning up at the scene of an increasingly bizarre series of events, including a burglary at one of her regular clients and a bombing in a black church, she suspects he may be more than an innocent bystander. Which is too bad, because he stirs up desires that Lily hasn't felt for any man for a very long time. Lily Bard is a complex woman who embodies many of the contradictions of the modern South--its dark side as well as its charm--and this suspenseful, deftly written novel will send new fans scrambling to read its predecessor. --Jane Adams The author's strong, often silent heroine, Lily Bard, and Shakespeare, Arkansas, her adopted hometown, in a second appearance (Shakespeare's Landlord, 1996). Lily cleans houses for a living and works out at the BodyTime Gym. There, early one morning, she and young Bobo Winthrop discover the body of fitness enthusiast Del Packard--crushed by a weight-laden bar. Accident or murder? Police Chief Claude Freidrich, Lily's neighbor and would-be lover, doesn't have a clue. Meanwhile, Packard's death seems yet more evidence of the town's sinister atmosphere, a sense of unease going back to the not-long-ago beating death of black Darnell Glass and the killing, a few weeks later, of white farmer Lee Elgin--neither murder ever solved. Now, the racist fliers placed in car windows around town don't help. Then there's the pony-tailed stranger seen with Hollis Winthrop Jr.--one of Lily's employers and head of his family's lucrative sporting- goods business now that patriarch Hollis Sr. has retired. A frightening act of violence in the black community church prompts the stranger to reveal his true identity to Lily, and it's she, with help from an unexpected source, who rescues him as the whole ugly scenario unravels. Wheels within wheels in a suspenseful story packed with nasty characters, a few good guys, some graphic sex, and more exercise and karate lore than you ever wanted to know. Lily's stubborn, moody, gutsy persona holds it all together, and most readers will be with her to the finish. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Fast-paced and gripping...An engaging puzzler. -- Publishers Weekly Terrific. -- Tulsa World Fast-paced and gripping...An engaging puzzler. (Publishers Weekly) Terrific. (Tulsa World) 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. 'Lily Bard brings new meaning to the term 'strong woman.' She's the equal of Kay Scarpetta, Kinsey Millhone, and V.I. Warshawski even on a bad day.' --Library Journal 'Gripping...full of surprises...an engaging puzzler.' --Publishers Weekly There's something rotten in Shakespeare... Lily Bard was running from shattering memories when she moved to Shakespeare, Arkansas. Now cleaning houses pays her bills. Working out helps her heal. Still protecting her scars, she hides a hard body and impressive skill at martial arts under baggy sweats. And nobody knows how strong she is until racial violence has her looking behind closed doors for a killer--doors to which a housecleaner might have the key. When Lily uses her training in goju to help a black man jumped by white teens, she does it for justice...only to hear he's been abducted and beaten to death a few weeks later. Then a bodybuilder is killed at her gym. Both incidents jar Lily's need for security and refuge. Looking into closets, sweeping under rugs, she soon uncovers enough dirt to confirm that something sinister is growing in her adopted town. Getting involved could endanger her life. But Lily is seeing a new man and dreaming new dreams. And no one can make this strong woman run again. Charlaine Harris is the author of Shakespeare's Landlord, the debut novel in the Lily Bard mystery series. She has also written five books featuring amateur sleuth Aurora Teagarden. In between writing, chatting with her fans on the Internet, and taking care of three young children, she studies karate. She lives with her family in Magnolia, Arkansas. I grumbled to myself as I slid out of my Skylark, Marshall's keys clinking in my hand. Since I made my living doing favors for people, it hardly seemed fair to be doing a favor for free this early in the morning. But this fall a flu epidemic was scything its way through Shakespeare. It had crept into the Body Time gym enclosed in the body of my friend Raphael Roundtree. Raphael had coughed and sneezed in karate class after working out in the weights room, neatly distributing the virus among almost all the Body Time clientele, with the exception of the aerobics class. And me. Viruses don't seem to be able to abide in my body. When I'd dropped by Marshall Sedaka's rented house even earlier that morning, Marshall had been at that stage of the flu where his greatest desire was to be left alone to his misery. So fit and healthy that he took sickness as an insult, Marshall was a terrible patient; and he was vain enough to hate my seeing him throw up. So he'd thrust the keys to Body Time into my hand, slammed the door, and yelled from behind it, 'Go open! Tanya's coming after her first class if I can't get anyone else!' I'd been left with my mouth hanging open and a handful of keys. It was my day to work at the Drinkwaters' house. I had to be there between 8:00 and 8:15, when the Drinkwaters left for work. It was now 7:00. Tanya, a student at the nearby Montrose branch of the University of Arkansas, might get out of her first class at 9:00. That would put her arrival time at somewhere around 9:40. But Marshall was sometimes my lover and also sometimes my workout partner; and he was always my sensei, my karate instructor. I'd blown air out of my mouth to make the curls at my forehead fluff, and driven out to Body Time. I'd decided I'd just unlock the gym and leave. The same people came every morning, and they could be trusted to work out alone. Most days, I was one of them. Marshall's almost incoherent appeal for help had come when I had been dressing to leave for the gym, as a matter of fact, and I was already in my sweats. I could go to work at the Drinkwaters' as I was, though I hated beginning my earning day without having showered and put on makeup. I don't like breaks in my routine. My job depends on the clock. Two and a half hours at the Drinkwaters' house, a ten- or fifteen-minute gap, another house; that's my day and my income. Body Time is in a somewhat isolated position on the bypass that swerves around Shakespeare, allowing speedier access from the south to the university at Montrose. Marshall's gym has a large graveled parking lot and big plate-glass windows at the front, which are covered by venetian blinds lowered at six on winter afternoons, four in the summer. There was already a car in the parking lot, a battered Camaro. I expected to see some impatient enthusiast waiting in its front seat, but the car was empty. I walked over, cast a cursory look over the car's clean interior. It told me nothing. I shrugged, and crunched across the gravel in the chilly, pale early morning light, fumbling through Marshall's keys. As I sorted through them to find the one marked FD for front door, another vehicle pulled up beside mine. Bobo Winthrop, eighteen and chock-full of hormones, emerged from his fully equipped Jeep. I clean for Bobo's mother Beanie. I have always liked Bobo despite the fact that he is beautiful, smart enough to scrape by, and has everything he has ever expressed a wish for. Somehow Bobo had charmed his way into Marshall's good graces, probably by working out on as demanding a schedule as Marshall himself. When Bobo had decided to start college in nearby Montrose, Marshall had finally agreed to hire the boy to work a few hours a week at Body Time. Since Bobo isn't hurting for money, I can only figure his job motivation is getting to ogle many women of all ages in form-fitting outfits and getting to see all his friends, who naturally all have memberships in Body Time. Bobo was running his fingers through his floppy fair hair by way of grooming. He said groggily, 'Whatcha doin', Lily?' 'Trying to find the right key,' I said, with a certain edge to my voice. 'This is it.' A long finger attached to a huge hand nudged one key out of the cluster. Bobo gave a jaw-cracking yawn. 'Thanks.' I put the key in the lock, but as I did I felt the door move a little. 'It's unlocked,' I said, hearing my voice come out sharp. I was now really uneasy. The back of my neck began to prickle. 'Del's already here. That's his car,' Bobo said calmly. 'But he's supposed to lock the front door when he's here by himself. Marshall's gonna be mad.' The gloom in the big room was pronounced. Shades still closed, all lights off. 'He must be in the tanning bed,' Bobo said, and kept going across the room as I flipped on the central panel of lights with one hand. I reached for the ringing phone with the other. 'Body Time,' I said sharply, my eyes ranging from side to side. Something smelled wrong. 'I was able to get Bobo after you left,' Marshall said weakly. 'He can stay, Lily. I don't want you to miss work. Oops. Gotta . . .' He slammed down the phone. I'd almost told Marshall something was wrong. But that would have been pointless, worrying him until I found out what was making the skin of my neck crawl. I'd only switched on the central panel of lights, so the sides of the big room were still dark. Bobo had begun turning on lights and opening doors in the rear of the building. So I was by myself when I noticed the man lying on the bench in the far left corner. I didn't for one minute think he was asleep, not with the barbell across his neck. His arms were dangling awkwardly, his legs spraddled. There was a stain. There were lots of stains. I was scrabbling at the switch plate behind me, trying not to take my eyes off that still figure, when Bobo came from the hall that led to Marshall's office, the tanning beds, and the karate and aerobics room. 'Hey, Lily, you like Natural Morning Zap Tea? I didn't see Del, but I found this bag in Marshall's office . . .' My fingers located the light switch for the left side of the room, and as Bobo looked to see what I was staring at, I flicked it up. 'Aw, shit,' said Bobo. We both stared at what was lying on the bench. We could see it all too clearly now. Bobo scuttled sideways until he was behind me, looking over the top of my head. He put his hands on my shoulders, more to keep me firmly between him and It than to comfort me. 'Aw . . . shit,' he said again, gulping ominously. Just at that moment, Bobo came down hard on the 'boy' side of eighteen. I had already encountered two nauseated males and it wasn't even seven o'clock. 'I've got to go check,' I said. 'If you're going to throw up, go outside.' 'Check what? He's dead as a doornail,' said Bobo, his big hands anchoring me firmly on his side of the service counter. 'Who is it, you reckon? Del?' Possibly I was stalling. 'Yeah, from the clothes. That's what Mr. Packard was wearing last night.' 'You left him here by himself?' I asked as I began walking over to the body on the bench. 'He was doing chest when I left. He had his own key, to lock up. Marshall had told me that was okay. And Mr. Packard said he had a spotter coming,' Bobo said defensively. 'I had a date, and it was closing time.' Bobo's voice got stronger and angrier as he saw he was going to have to justify leaving Del alone in the gym. At least he didn't sound nauseated anymore. I finally got to the corner. It had been a long journey. Before I got there, I took a deep breath, held it, and bent over to check Del's wrist. I had never touched Del alive, and I didn't want to do it now that he was dead, but if there was any chance there was a spark of life left . . . His skin felt strange, rubbery, or it might have been my imagination. The smell was not my imagination, nor was the lack of pulse. To make absolutely sure, I held my big watch in front of Del's nostrils. There were trails of dried blood running from them. I bit my lip hard, forced myself to hold still a moment. When I pulled my arm back to my side, the watch face was clear. I found myself backing up for the first two feet, as if it would be irreverent or dangerous to turn my back on poor Del Packard. I hadn't been scared of him when I'd been able to talk to him. It was absurd to be nervous around him now. But I had to tell myself that several times. I picked up the phone again and punched in some numbers. I looked up at Bobo while I waited for the ring. He was staring at the body in the corner with a horrified fascination. Perhaps this was the first dead person he'd ever seen. I reached over and patted the back of his big hand, lying on the counter. He turned it over and clutched my fingers. &qu... Customers who bought this item also bought Shakespeare's Landlord (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 1) Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery Grave Surprise Grave Sight Customer Reviews for: Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 2) Rating - Dark mystery.... This book was better than the first "Shakespeare's Landlord". I really like the character of Lily and the mystery wasn't bad. I enjoy most of the characters and Lily's community for the most part. This series is far too dark to be considered a cozy although a lot of people seem to classify it as one. There wasn't any great suprises here; nor was it boring. I'd like to see Lily get some of her happiness back; she just seems like a fairly unhappy ... Read More Rating - Love Charline Harris! If you haven't picked up the Lily Bard series - check it out! If you like these, you will love the Harper Connelly series, Sookie Stackhouse series, and Aurora Teagarden series - I read all of those, then started these, and am enjoying them very much. I can't believe I just "found" Charlaine Harris last year! :) Rating - Enjoyed it I throughly enjoyed this book. I read the 1st, 3rd, and 4th book and waited for this book to be re-released so I could get the story in the middle I missed. More than a couple of answers were answered and I had a hard time putting it down. Rating - Let every eye negotiate for itself, and trust no agent... - Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing This is the second book in the Lily Bard Mystery series. The small town of Shakespeare Arkansas is experiencing some severe race related issues. Flyers of a white supremacy theme are being placed on the windshields of the citizens and three unsolved murders seem to be connected. Lily Bard, the town maid, happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and is gaining quiet admiration from one racial group, while at the ... Read More see more reviews See More Berkley products

: Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 2)