Book Review: Shakespeare's Champion

Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard #2)

By: Charlaine Harris

Published By: Berkley

Release Date: December 2006

Buy it at Amazon

Source: Library

Audience: Adult

Format: Audiobook

Going back to spend more time with Lily Bard and the other residents of Shakespeare was more enjoyable for me than the first time I met them. This book is much darker and tackles some pretty serious issues such as race and gender issues in the deep south. I personally preferred this over the run of the mill murder mystery from the first book. However, this one is certainly not for the faint of heart. There are many disturbing events and the violence is much more detailed and prevalent.

This book also solidified that out of Harris' heroines that I have read about - Sookie, Harper, and Lily - that Lily is by far my favorite. She is so much more likable to me for some reason and much more down to earth. I also love Lily's strength - both physical and emotional. She is tough as nails and such a wonderful role model for women. I often wish I could take life by the horns like she always does.

This installment also just had a better mystery in my opinion than the first book. There wasn't just one murder consuming the plot line - there were 3 on top of a string of racially charged incidents. I also enjoyed that in this one Lily truly was just minding her own business and kept getting pulled into the fray. In the first novel it felt like Lily was intentionally trying to play detective.

Finally, I really enjoyed the chemistry between Lily and Jack in this novel. I hope to see more of this in future novels.

I highly recommend this book to mystery fans and those who have enjoyed other works by Charlaine Harris. The audiobook was also great. I really enjoy the narrator for this series.

One Last Gripe: I hated how things ended up for Mookie. I wish that could have been different.

My Favorite Thing About This Book: Lily and Jack's relationship

First Sentence: The man lying on the padded bench had been working out for two hours and he was drenched in sweat.

Favorite Character: Lily

Least Favorite Character: Darcy

Summary:

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.