Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 2)

By Charlaine Harris

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425213102
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Berkley Pub Group
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Fighting Evil in a Small Town's Shadows

After a few weeks of adjusting to being more a part of her Shakespeare community, keeping busy with her cleaning and errand business, and dipping her pinky toe into the waters of romance, abuse and kidnapping survivor, Lily Bard, stumbles upon another body. Charlaine Harris’ first Lily Bard mystery had me swiftly progressing to the second installment in the series which has plenty of ongoing connections making it best read in order. Shakespeare’s Champion opens with Lily and Bobo Winthrop, a young fitness buff and new employee at Marshall Sedaka’s gym coming across a body builder who was working out in prep for a chance at the championship. Lily might have left this murder up to the cops, but something insidious is happening around the town and she’s been unsettled since the brutal beating to death of a young black man and follow-up death of a local white farmer. Both deaths remain unsolved and now this one. Then there are the mutterings, flyers, and hostilities happening from some whites toward the black community. What is happening to her adopted small town? Shakespeare’s Champion raises the issues of race, gender, and, of course, abuse of justice along with Lily’s private struggle recovering from kidnapping, rape and abuse that drove her to live off on her own in Shakespeare. I appreciated how Charlaine Harris addressed those concerns while putting forward a darker, suspenseful mystery for Lily who, again, due to her work cleaning and working behind the scenes in several homes and businesses around town, gets the inside scoop on people. In the previous book, Shakespeare’s Landlord, Lily started something up with gym owner and karate instructor, Marshall Sedaka, and there were hints of an attraction with police chief, Claude Friedrich, but I appreciated how this installment brings closure to both of those while leaving her more healed from her past ordeal- not even completely over that kidnapping and rape, but able to engage more with other people- and introduces a new possibility with the new mysterious guy in town who she bumps into at the gym, at the Wynthrop home, and working at the Wynthrop’s outdoor store. His presence has her curious and the zing she gets when they meet eyes is nothing to the stunning twists he adds to that darker mystery she is working on in Shakespeare. Julia Gibson continues to narrate the series and I really like what she brings to the story. Lily is a complicated character and there is a large and varied cast that she handles well. Lily is forced to experience some big suspenseful moments that leave her beaten down and having to show her grit to keep going. There were things I saw coming as the mystery unwound, but a couple surprises were also in store. Again, I’m left eager to rush toward the next installment to see what murder mystery Lily is faced with next.

Shakespeare at its best...

Its a day like any other. Lily Bard wakes and heads to Body Time to get in her daily workout, but as a favor to her friend Marshall(who is sick with the flu)Lily arrives early with the Gyms key to open for the day....when she walks in she is shocked to find a dead man. The 3rd dead man in Shakespeare in as many months....who was stalking the people of Shakespeare?? Coming to the conclusion of this mytery was wild fun and filled with twists and turns all over the place..not to mention more of your fave characters and a steamy hot new one :o) I liked this installment even better than the first and I intend to devour the 3rd the moment it hits my mailbox. Charlaine Harris can write. Her dialogue flows fresh and natural and she has a real knack for mixing the serious and the scandalous with the fun and the flirty. I just adore her work. If you have not yet read this series, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It is soooo entertaining!

Series makes several leaps forward in this installment.

When housecleaner Lily Bard discovers a body in her gym, Body Time, she sees a connection to earlier murders that have taken place in her adopted town, Shakespeare, Arkansas. Lily Bard moved to Shakespeare several years before to restart her life after a personal tragedy received national media attention, but her life since then has been anything but quiet. After stopping an interracial fight at a local drive-in Lily becomes the focus of unwanted attention by some of the town residents. She decides not to move, but instead to stay and try to solve the murders that have made living in Shakespeare difficult for many of its citizens. Charlaine Harris has a more complex plot structure in "Shakespeare's Champion". Events go back and forth in time and details are revealed from Lily's former life. And Lily really develops as a character in this book: when big things go down in Shakespeare Lily is forced to make crucial decisions that show what she's made of. This is also the book where she meets Jack Leeds. ; )This is my favorite Lily Bard installment yet. Charlaine Harris uses an economy of words that makes every narrative detail important. I love the names she chooses for characters and businesses, but for all those whimsical details her stories are streamlined and focused.If you've started the Lily Bard series that begins with "Shakespeare's Landlord", be sure to read "Shakespeare's Champion". Harris' other series are also a lot of fun. And if you like Harris' writing be sure to try Elizabeth Peters' and Laurie R. King's mystery series.

A Wonderful Mystery That Never Should Have Gone Out of Print

Shakespeare's Champion is the second book in the Lily Bard series, but can be read as stand alone if you should be so lucky to find this book first. This book finds Lily still cleaning away and uncovering more secrets about the residents of Shakespeare than she ever really wanted to know. However, Lily has quite a few secrets of her own so she knows how to keep her mouth shut. When she isn't cleaning, Lily is busy going to the gym where she works on bodybuilding and karate. One morning, on her way to an early workout, she discovers a fellow gym member, dead, with a barbell across his throat. Lily desperately wants to believe that it was an accident, but there are too many other suspicious "accidents" including a young black man's unsolved murder, the bombing of a church, and many others. It appears that most of the crimes are racially motivated, but Del is a white bodybuilder who works in the sporting goods store. How does his death fit in with the others? Lily unwillingly involves herself in investigating the crime and uses her unique vantage point and circumstances to collect information. She quickly discovers that there is something fishy in Shakespeare. Lily doesn't want to suspect one of the longtime residents, but there are only so many newcomers to town. So when Lily discovers one dark stranger showing up at the most unlikely places, such as her client's closet, it is only natural that her suspicions would fall on him...I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries and/or tough female characters. Charlaine Harris' characters are wonderful. They are quixotic combinations of practicality, spotenaity, weaknesses and strengths. I felt that I could identify with most of the characters immediately upon meeting them. It was also wonderful to get the start of a love story for Lily. True, she dabbled in a little romance in Shakespeare's Landlord (book #1 in the series), but she has a serious shot at a relationship in this book. The plot was well drawn and, I must admit, the final chapter of the book was a surprise. If you enjoyed the first one, you will love the second one. Just be aware that this is by far the most expensive book to own in the set. It isn't hard to find - just expensive!

A Wonderful Series

I've read all four books in this series, and am looking forward to the fifth. This is one of the best. Lily's actions and attitudes ring true with her past, and it's fascinating watching her guard go down in small ways as she starts to let people into her life. The mysteries are intruging, and the characters (Jack is a solid addition) fit the setting.

Excellent book, could not put it down!

I loved this book for many reasons. Harris' style is unique, and as a sixteen year old girl I found it very enjoyable.