About the same as the first, maybe a shade better. It's a mystery. A little romance, but mostly a fluff book. For some reason, I find them very engaging, though. Off to read the next. ( )

The second book in the series and another fast read. The mystery is not as satisfying this time around, as its unrealistic and wraps itself up a little too neatly. But the reader learns more about Roe, who is an endearing character, and one who is still suffering the after effects of the events of the first book. ( )

Review at: http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/20... ( )

Aurora (Roe) is back after the events in Real Murders. One of the original club, JaneEngle, has died of old age and has left her house and savings to Roe. They were not particularly close, but it seems Jane has left Roe a mystery to solve. Lawyer Bubba Sewell gives her to understand there is something Jane has been keeping from people and on investigating her house Roe finds a human skull. The house has also been broken in to which suggests that she is not the only one who knows about it's exsistance.

Roe is torn, should she move in to Jane's house but is one of the neighbours a murderer. First things first she needs to identify the identity of the skull and there are a few possibilities and missing people. She meets her neighbours including her ex lover who has recently married and his wife is about to have a baby any time now which really rubs Roe's single face in it. To even the playing field she begins to date one of the local ministers, but no one is above suspision and she is careful not to mention the skull to anyone.

I enjoyed this as a random novel but not as a murder mystery. The ending was far too rushed and was much more about Roe and her realtionships with people than about the msytery. There was also a very unrealistic scene at the end involving giving birth, but I won't spoil it here. Overall a very average book which left me very disappointed as I expected better. ( )

Aurora Teagarden, part time librarian, is barely over the huge wedding-of-the-year event where her mother, a prominent realtor, married a wealthy bank manager when she learns that an old friend and former member of her "Real Murders" club, Jane Engle, has passed away. And as she's leaving the cemetery, Roe learns from Jane's attorney that except for a small bequest to a cousin she never liked, Jane has left her entire estate to Roe. That was quite a surprise, and finding out the amount of the inheritance (a house and over half a million dollars in cash) was an even bigger one, but it's the skull that Roe finds hidden in the window seat in Jane's living room that is a downright shock. Along with a terse note in one of her many real life murder books ("I didn't do it."), Roe feels determined to try to figure out who the skull belongs to and why Jane had it in the first place, but she's hesitant to turn everything directly over to the police because she feels she owes it to Jane to keep her name out of the headlines if at all possible.

In this second installment of the series, Ms. Harris has hit her stride. The characters that were introduced in "Real Murders" are fleshed out more fully and Roe has become someone I can identify with. As soon as Roe did the little jig in the privacy of the elevator at the lawyer's office building after she learned of her inheritance, I knew she and I were going to get along just fine. I'm looking forward to more books in this series. ( )