Book 99: Poppy Done to Death

This is my last Charlaine Harris book -- until she writes some more. In this one, Aurora's step-sister-in-law is murdered, and guess who finds the body! It's Aurora, like in every book!

Well, sister Poppy has been having affairs with everyone, and our heroine is pretty disgusted. The disgust and the multiple suspects make it even trickier to figure out who killed Poppy.

Additionally, Aurora has a little half-brother. They share the same cheating father. Little brother is now a teenager and he comes for a visit, complicating and livening up Aurora's Thanksgiving plans/murder solving.

It's the same kind of deal you expect from Charlaine Harris (just seeing her name makes me want to speak in an outrageous parody of a Southern accent: Sharrr-LAYYYNE!). The characters are much more important and interesting than the mysteries. The characters are pretty well-drawn, and the mysteries are not. I have just discovered that this type of novel is called a "cozy." They usually take place in small towns, and the mysteries are solved by female amateur sleuths. There's not much graphic description of blood, violence, or sex. There's little to no cursing (or as I call it, cussin'). It's a whole genre that I never knew existed.

Thanks to this quick read, I am officially now CAUGHT UP and only have to read 5 more books by the end of the year. I'm horribly tempted by a couple of 1,000-pagers that are weighing down my shelves, but I'll try to wait until after Book 104.