Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris Narrator: Therese Plummer
Series: Aurora Teagarden #7
Published by Recorded Books on December 30, 2009
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 6 hours, 59 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
In the first installment of the Aurora Teagarden series, Real Murders, the small town of Lawrenceton, Georgia, was beset by a series of horrific murders. Librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden teamed up with true crime writer Robin Crusoe to catch the killer, and the results of their investigation have gone down in Lawrenceton history.
Now Robin is back in town, set to begin filming the movie version of the terrible events of so many years ago. Of course he's not alone-he brings with him a cast and crew the size of which nearly overwhelms the tiny excitement-starved town. Roe is disturbed to discover that the film's crew includes her stepson, who despises her, as well as an actress set to play her in the film. Everyone in Lawrenceton suddenly goes movie crazy, mentally composing awards-acceptance speeches while prancing around the fringes of the set awaiting discovery.
Roe's not so crazy about the whole thing...and neither is a secret, vicious murderer. When bodies start dropping, it's up to Roe to reprise her role as amateur sleuth and stop the carnage before it gets out of hand. It's no problem for the beloved small-town librarian in this wonderfully cozy installment in the adored Aurora Teagarden mystery series.
Hollywood has come to Lawrenceton, GA, and the widowed Roe Teagarden must now face down her past and a fresh murder. Charlaine Harris makes small town, mystery, and romance drama high entertainment and I delved into this latest with anticipation.
Last Scene Alive is the seventh in a very connected Aurora Teagarden series of small-town cozy mysteries.
It’s been a few years since Martin passed away and Roe has isolated herself from feeling anything, but her dreary grief. Not until word gets to her that Robin Crusoe’s bestseller about the murder club murders being filmed now in her hometown does she start to rouse from her lethargy. Roe is none too keen on the moving being filmed at all let alone right there in town, but everyone she encounters is all for it and its benefiting so many.
Slowly, she makes peace with the idea just in time to make tentative gestures of a reunion with old flame Robin and visit the set while having prickly meetings with Martin’s son who is part of the cast. She’s drawn into the movie crowd when Robin invites her to see them working and then the lead actress playing her wants to meet. Not long after, murder strikes the movie scene and Roe is once again trying to work out who wanted the lead actress dead- and, who is stalking her from the shadows?
Last Scene Alive didn’t grab me at first. Roe has her wallowing moments throughout the series and she is in full dirge through the first few chapters of the book. However, she gets a grip and realizes that yes, she lost her husband and a love she held dearly, but she is only hurting herself and others by the way she’s been acting. Her return to life comes with a tickler murder, choices about what widowed-life will look like going forward, dealing with her step-son’s rancor, and realizing that someone is a danger to her and it might very well be former-rekindling flame Robin.
I enjoyed seeing the great amount of growth in Roe’s personal life and how it was woven in well with the slow-build murder mystery plot. Turned out to be another winner in the series for me. A small-town cozy mystery series that I can heartily recommend.
Narration:
Therese Plummer does such fantastic voice work for Roe and the other familiar characters and adds in the new characters that an already superb story is made even better and more vivid to listeners.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Therese Plummer
Therese Plummer is an actor and voice over artist living and working in New York City. Favorite roles to date include TV: Rose Nerrick, The Good Wife, Andy in Law and Order SVU. Stage: Celebrity Row; New York Theatre Workshop, Under Tillage, The Irish Repertory Theatre. Off-off Broadway credits include The Vagina Monologues, Suzanne in Twilight of the Gold’s and Madeline in the Award Winning Samuel French Short play The Sweet Room. Comedy Credits include Improv at Upright Citizens Brigade and Stand-up at Caroline’s Comedy Club. Therese also performed her one woman show, Ribbons Undone, at the Here Arts Center.
Therese records audio books for Audible.com, Recorded Books and Talking Books, Inc. As an adolescent counselor, Therese spent five years utilizing Drama therapy techniques in individual and group settings before moving to New York. She shares a passion of creating, helping and entertaining and feels incredibly lucky to do all three.
About Charlaine Harris
Tired of abiding by the mystery rules, Harris wrote a novel about a telepathic barmaid that took at least two years to sell. When the book was published, it turned into a best seller, and DEAD UNTIL DARK and the subsequent Sookie books were adapted in Alan Ball’s “True Blood” series. At the same time, Harris began the Harper Connelly books. Harper can find the bones of the dead and see their last minute.
When those two series wound to a close, the next three books were about a mysterious town in Texas, called Midnight.
A change in publisher and editor led to Harris’s novels about a female gunslinger in an alternate America, Lizbeth Rose. The Gunnie Rose books concluded with the sixth novel.
She’s thinking about what to write next.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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Glad that even if it didn’t grab you at first, you were able to get into it and continue and enjoy it in the end! Great review!
Thanks, Lisa! It did end up being another good one in the series.
That sounds like a really good murder mystery.
You said it, Mary!
Sorry it didn’t grab you right away. Some books take a min.
Exactly so, Carole!
Happy to see you ended up really enjoying it despite the beginning. It does sound like Roe was going through a lot.
Yeah, I feel a little guilty not being really into that part of the book when she was seeped in grief because I can respect feeling such a big loss, but I did prefer it when she jumped on the mystery.
I’ve read the first one of these books – but haven’t checked out the rest of the series. Thank you for a great review:).
Wasn’t the ending startling on that one? I’ve enjoyed the way most of these border on cozy and thriller. Thanks, Sarah!