Poppy Done to Death by Charlaine Harris Narrator: Therese Plummer
Series: Aurora Teagarden #8
Published by Recorded Books on January 1, 2010
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 7 hours, 56 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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On the way to a lunch meeting of her local book discussion group, the Uppity Women, small-town Southern librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden is shocked and dismayed to find her sister-in-law Poppy lying bloody and dead right outside her own back door. Poppy had her flaws, certainly-she and her husband were having trouble staying faithful to each other-but she didn't deserve to be so brutally murdered.
Investigating a case like this is never easy, of course, given the gossipy atmosphere of any small town, what with Poppy and her husband's extramarital affairs, the local police detective (who also happens to be a former boyfriend of Roe's) and his seemingly unresolved feelings for Poppy, and the need to protect Poppy's family. But Roe is also coping with a burgeoning romantic relationship as well as the sudden appearance of her teenaged half brother. All in all, it's a lot for one woman to have on her plate, even one as together as Roe.
In the small town of Lawrenceton, GA, the club that all the ladies aspire to join is about to induct Aurora’s step-brother’s wife, Poppy. Only when its time to accept, Poppy is missing. Aurora and her other sister-in-law are appalled and rush to confront Poppy only to discover a grisly murder has taken place.
Poppy Done to Death is the eighth installment in the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. While each mystery is standalone, the mysteries are set in Aurora’s ongoing personal story so they really need to be read in order.
In the last book, Last Scene Alive, Aurora was starting to recover from her deep grief and isolation and had reunited with old flame, Robin Crusoe. Now, she’s tentatively dating Robin, working part-time at the library, and getting back into the Lawrenceton social scene by participating in the exclusive ladies’ club, The Uppity Women who are philanthropic, political, and literary in nature.
When Poppy doesn’t show up at Uppity Women, Aurora and her sister-in-law, Melinda, go to find out why she stood them up in front of the club sisters. Aurora finds a murdered Poppy in her own kitchen and clues in the driveway that point in a direction she really hopes is innocent. John-David, Roe’s step-brother, is the chief suspect, but there are enough of Poppy’s ex-lovers and ex-lover’s wives let alone John-David’s lovers who all might be jealous or angry enough to do Poppy in. One is even Aurora’s ex still on the police force and lead detective, Arthur.
Aurora is trying to help with the family’s arrangements to take as much off her step-dad and mom’s plate, but in the midst of all this, she’s inexplicably feeling poorly and the delve into Poppy’s life has her re-thinking her relationship, worried Robin would cheat like every other spouse or boyfriend in this mess.  But, if that weren’t enough to drive her to distraction, her young half-brother Phillip arrives on her doorstep. He’s run away from home after trouble between their dad and Phillip’s mom. Thanksgiving should be the thankful time of year, but she’d just be grateful if it all went away.
Poppy Done to Death hits really hard on tough subjects of marital fidelity, cheating, and darker themes of child sexual abuse and ministers abusing their calling, the social attitudes about all that and the ramifications.
There is also the vulnerability Roe is feeling about her deepening relationship with Robin. She’s also vulnerable about her childlessness and how that will affect her life still. Then there is fourteen-year-old Phillip who is hurting and a little lost when Roe’s dad who once cheated on her mom has cheated on Phillip’s mom, too.
Roe has been over-dramatic about things in the past for my taste, but in this one, I felt her emotions and responses were in sync with her situation. She does a good job of piecing together the clues though this was one where I felt the solution came a little out of left field.
Oddly, I hit on the suspect, way, and motive early on, but I didn’t think it was worth the violent killing. Welp, I guess there are some who will kill for less than I assumed…
There is an interesting pair of surprises (well, surprises to Roe) at the end that I look forward to seeing how it goes in the next installment. This series remains steady for engaging me in Roe’s life and the murder mystery. I am coming up on the last two books and I’ll be sad for the end when it comes, I think.
Narration:
Therese Plummer is a gifted narrator. She’s got the soft Southern accents down and by now has several cast of voices to make distinct and a complicated plot to bring to life for the listeners. She does it all with aplomb. I’m never confused about who’s talking and she makes me feel the story so much more.
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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