Sleep Like a Baby

July 3, 2017
In Agatha-finalist Harris’s engrossing 10th Aurora Teagarden novel (after 2016’s All the Little Liars), the Lawrenceton, Ga., librarian and first-time mother comes down with the flu just as her mystery writer husband, Robin Crusoe, is about to leave town for an important writers’ conference. Aurora is relieved when home aide Virginia Mitchell agrees to help with the baby, Sophie, while Robin is away. When Aurora is awakened in the middle of the night by Sophie’s wails, she discovers that Virginia has disappeared—and there’s a body in the back yard. The dead woman turns out to be Tracy Beal, who once stalked Robin and tried to murder Aurora. Did Virginia kill her, or did a neighbor really see Robin lurking about the back yard around the time that Tracy died? Harris smoothly weaves together several seemingly unrelated threads to create a richly layered tale of how the bad choices people make in life can come back to haunt them. 100,000-copy announced first printing; author tour. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary.

July 15, 2017
Librarian Aurora Teagarden copes with motherhood and murder.It's all hands on deck as Roe comes down with the flu while caring for her new arrival, Sophie Abigail Crusoe. Her husband, Robin, is in Nashville at Bouchercon, where his latest mystery, Panel of Experts, is up for the prestigious Anthony Award. Her mom is away at a family reunion, and her teenage half brother, Phillip, although willing to pitch in, is still recovering from being kidnapped (All the Little Liars, 2016). So Roe hires Virginia Mitchell, who helped out right after Sophie's birth, to stay overnight and shower mom and baby with a little extra TLC. At first, the baby minder is wonderful with Sophie, leaving Roe free to cope with her increasingly severe illness. But on the third morning, Roe awakens to the sound of her firstborn's piteous wails and sees that Virginia is nowhere to be found. Instead, there's an unknown corpse in the backyard with a terrible head wound. Robin rushes home; the police cordon off the crime scene, but as the investigation drags on, they make no progress in solving the murder or finding Virginia. Meanwhile, neighbors carp about the commotion, and friends begin to speculate that Roe and Robin may have had a hand in the grisly affair. Harris writes cozies to reckon with. But her world is surprisingly insular. Kids are often bullies or delinquents, Jewish neighbors whiny and demanding, African-Americans irresponsible or criminal. Can't Harris, who endowed Sookie Stackhouse with a fantastic array of vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, and fairies, spare some diversity for Lawrenceton?

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August 1, 2017

In her tenth outing (after All the Little Liars), Aurora Teagarden is tending her newborn but is laid low by the flu while her husband is at a conference. At the same time, her nurse disappears and a body is found in her backyard. There may be too many details of family life for some, but this entry is certain to be a hit with fans of the series and the Hallmark TV show featuring the protagonist. [See Prepub Alert, 3/23/17.]--LH

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2017
The latest in Harris' popular Aurora Teagarden series finds her settling into the role of a nursing mom, happily changing, feeding, and burping the most beautiful baby in the world. Don't be lulled. This is Charlaine Harris, who is the equal of the legendary Shirley Jackson in conveying the sinister lurking beneath the everyday. Slyly, quietly, she keeps the suspense building, dropping details into scenes that appear about as dull as dishwater. A noise in the next room, a soft knock on the door. The flowers that arrive anonymously. Then come the discovery of the body in the backyard and Aurora's missing babysitter. A neighbor swears he saw Aurora's husband at the murder scene. Couldn't be, could it? He was out of town, wasn't he? The tense, edgy undercurrents persist as Aurora goes through the prose of her life: a visit to her ailing stepfather, a clash with the fussbudgets next door. Finally, we witness the violence Harris has been preparing us for all along, and we learn what 4-foot-11, ex-librarian Aurora is capable of doing when the need arises.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)