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Lily Bard is a series of novels written by popular mystery author Charlaine Harris. The first novel in the Lily Bard series was “Shakespeare’s Landlord” that came out in 1996 to widespread success. The series of novels that were published at the rate of one a year between 1996 and 2001 are best classified as mystery thrillers.
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Order of Lily Bard Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shakespeare's Landlord | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Shakespeare's Champion | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Shakespeare's Christmas | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Shakespeare's Trollop | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Shakespeare's Counselor | 2001 | Description / Buy |
The alternative name of Shakespeare series is not related to the famous English playwright but rather from its setting in the town of Shakespeare, Arkansas. The lead character in the series is a strong willed housecleaner forced into amateur sleuthing after moving to Shakespeare, Arkansas. Lily Bard has had a traumatic life in her former hometown and in trying to forget her experiences is working hard at her new job and taking martial arts lessons.
The first novel in the series “Shakespeare’s Landlord” opens to Lily Bard who has just moved to Shakespeare Arkansas, a sleepy town that she believes will be the perfect place to get herself back on track. She is running away from the violence that had nearly taken away everything from her. She is a confident, strong, woman becoming proficient in martial arts. She now works as a housecleaner and often comes and goes without anyone taking notice – until she is witness to a murder.
What follows is a life of terror for Lily Bard as the murder strips away her anonymity as she now has to deal with the attentions of a suspicious community and a homicide detective. She also has to face up to the romantic interest from her married karate instructor. What follows is an intense and suspenseful novel as Lily gathers dirt on her neighbors’ private lives, even as she has her own dark ones. The novel is a great thriller of a story that shows just why the author is an Agatha award-winning novelist.
BEST LILY BARD BOOKS
Shakespeare’s Landlord: The first novel in the series is one of the best novels in the series. The novel has been so popular that in 2017, One More Story Games announced that it had entered into a deal with Charlaine Harris to adapt the bestseller into an interactive story game. With a very interesting narrative that sees the lead protagonist completely transform her life after stumbling on a dead body, the novel has fast become a fan favorite.
Shakespeare’s Counselor: The fifth novel in the series of novels is one of the Lily Bard series’ most highly regarded. Cleaner turned karate expert Lily Bard is trying her very best to put her horrible nightmares and tarrying memories to bed through attending weekly therapy sessions. It soon turns that the people that she attends the therapy session have more than feelings to sort out. Lily and her friend arrive for their session one morning to find a woman murdered and left displayed in a manner that is essentially intended to send a message.
It is not long before Bard finds herself in the middle of the gruesome murder investigation trying to determine who the recipient of the message is, and just who would commit such cruel murder. However, the murder has also managed to uncover some of her very darkest secrets, and thus she needs to find the killer before he visits Shakespeare again to send her over the edge.
Shakespeare’s Christmas: The third novel in the Lily Bard series is another great read full of unpredictable twists and turns. Lily is about to head back home to spend her holidays by being a bridesmaid for her sister. She is not looking forward to going back home, having made a new life for herself in Shakespeare, Arkansas. But just as she is about to leave, her plans are thrown into jeopardy when the towns nurse and doctor turn up dead, bludgeoned to death while working overnight. Things get even messier when her old boyfriend turns up, investigating a kidnapping cold case that has led him right to Shakespeare.
OTHER BOOK SERIES YOU MAY LIKE
Many fans of the Lily Bard series of novels also love the “Psychic Eye Mystery” Series by Victoria Laurie. Abby Cooper is an intuitive psychic that helps her friends sidestep mayhem and murder while her life is a total shambles.
Lily Bard fans also love the “A Bewitching Mystery” series of novels by Madelyn Alt. The novels are detective mystery thrillers that feature an antiques shop clerk named Maggie O’Neill, who finds out that she has magical powers that she uses to help her friends get out of sticky murder suspect situations.
What Is The Next Book in The Lily Bard Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Lily Bard Series. The newest book is Shakespeare's Counselor and was released on November, 6th 2001.