It doesn’t take long for Lily to start feeling uncomfortable back in Bartley. And to top it off, when she accompanies her sister, Varena, to the doctor they find Dr. LeMay and Nurse Armstrong bludgeoned to death. Who would kill the local doctor and his trusted nurse?

Shortly after the unpleasant discovery, Jack Leeds, private investigator and Lily’s boyfriend comes to Bartley hot on the trail of an eight year old unsolved abduction case. Summer Dawn Macklesby disappeared from her family’s front porch years ago, and the trail leads to three prominent families in Bartley.

Do the deaths of the doctor and nurse have anything to do with the abduction case? Will Varena’s wedding go off without a hitch? And what terrible tragedy happened to Lily in her past that no one wants to talk about?

Shakespeare’s Christmas, while darker, is one of the most entertaining and original cozies I have read in a long time. Lily is not a cookie cutter amateur sleuth. The idea of a bodybuilding cleaning lady is pure genius on Harris’ part. Instead of waiting to be rescued, Lily solves problems on her own, jumps into investigations, and tackles bad guys without a second thought. Even though she’s not in Shakespeare, Lily picks up right where she left off in Bartley, and her sleuthing skills come in handy.

The secondary characters are also enjoyable, including Jack, Varena, Lily’s parents, a small town cop and an old high school friend turned town gossip. None of these folks were “dead weight” each furthering the story along by providing Lily with tidbits of information.

The mystery was well thought out and well written. There are a number of crimes that happen in the course of the story, some of them pretty gruesome. What I found refreshing is that the main characters were obviously affected and disturbed by these crimes. So often in cozies I get the feeling that the main characters think, “Oh look a dead body, fiddley dee.” Not so in Bartley, Arkansas. Time and again, Lily, Jack and Varena find themselves at a crime scene and each time there are responses believable.

Harris touches on Lily’s past periodically in this installment, but only gives minor details. All of this reinforces that Lily is a survivor and doesn’t take crap from anyone. While I was frustrated at times that Harris didn’t give me the whole story, it struck me to be a good idea on her part. Lily’s past tragedy will undoubtedly be further explored in future books and will certainly win more fans to this charming series.

--Wendy Crutcher