I love this series -- and that Berkley is reprinting all the books -- which I read back when they were first published. In Last Scene Alive, heroine Aurora Teagarden is chagrined to learn that a movie crew is in town to film a version of her earlier amateur sleuthing adventures. She'd just as soon they leave town but instead, she gets another murder to investigate: the actress portraying her. Widowed Aurora also rekindles (?) her romance with Robin Crusoe, the author who brought her exploits to readers. ( )

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Still grieving from the death of her husband, Aurora (Roe) Teagarden was taken a little by surprise with the arrival of Robin Crusoe, her former neighbor and a man she had once dated. Knowing that he had written a book based on the strange murders that had happened in her hometown several years ago didn‘t help, and now the tv movie was about to be filmed in the middle of downtown Lawrencetown. Everyone seemed to be excited about the movie industry being in town, except Roe. She knew that a lot of the story was based on her and her involvement in finding the bodies. During the course of filming, her own stepson (Barrett) is the one who stumbles upon a body, that of the main actress who was to play the part of Roe herself. After so many murders happening around her, surely this one would have nothing to do with her, until it does.

Book 7 ….. To begin with, I miss Martin (the husband), I had always liked him so much more than I ever liked Robin the first time I met him. The mystery was a bit mellow compared to some of the stories Roe has been involved in. I didn’t like some of the personal decisions Roe made on this one either. This is obviously not one of the best of the Aurora Teagarden series (in my opinion), but that will not stop me from reading the next one (Poppy Done to Death) which seems to be the last of the series. ( )

The last one available at this time, it's better than the rest, but I wouldn't suggest reading them out of order. You can, but there is a lot of history to catch up on. She did much better at creating a mystery & not just one, yet still kept the same style. It's not quite the same kind of candy book as the first of the series & certainly showed her maturing as a writer. It's still light & engaging, a fun read with no pretensions to be anything else. A good mystery with a bit more romance, no explicit sex & a twisty plot. ( )

Another solid installment in the always charming Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris. Last Scene Alive finds a movie crew coming to Lawrenceton to film a miniseries version of Whimsical Murders. Written by Robin Crusoe (yes, that's his name), Whimsical Murders is the true crime telling of the events that took place in Real Murders, the first book in the series.

Robin, one-time almost flame of Aurora's, and still a long, tall, red-headed drink of water, is in town with the crew, and he's sniffing around Roe again. Also along for the shoot is Barrett, the grown son of Roe's husband Martin, an actor, a mooch, and even less a fan of Roe's than he was when his father was alive.

On the first day of shooting Celia Shaw, the Emmy-winning actress playing Roe in the series, is found thrice murdered (drugged, strangled, and bopped on the head with her own Emmy) in her trailer, and the race is on.

As always, small town life and the quirky, charming, and sometimes scary characters are far more important than the mystery at hand, and--once again--Roe is not so much sleuth as the sort-of-calm center around which all the weird shit seems to happen.

Satisfying and adorable. ( )