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I seem to be in the mood for a mystery binge, as I thrifted a copy of Real Murders by Charlaine Harris (the author of the books that inspired HBO's True Blood.) I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, but I do like this author, who is a very accomplished and quite readable writer.

The premise: a small town librarian, Aurora Teagarden belongs to a club of townspeople who study and discuss true crime, and as she's preparing to take her turn in presenting a case she discovers the body of one of their members, a victim of a copycat murder. One by one the members start dying, and Aurora must solve the mystery while being romanced by a handsome cop and a suspicious novelist and dodging at least one attempt on her life.

My thoughts: it's a fairly generic mystery, but well-written enough to keep me engaged. I kept stumbling over the protagonist's overornate name in the text, so that didn't work for me (that's my problem; I am very picky about names.) I also thought Aurora was rather judgmental, which does happen to be a characteristic of this author's protagonists, and made her slightly unlikeable for me (since I can be judgmental also a bit hypocritical, yes?) The murders and how they're depicted are standard fare in the cozy genre. I liked the cop a lot. I'd consider the story good with some interesting characters and a fairly complicated puzzle, which keeps you guessing until the end.

I didn't care enough for the protagonist to read the next book in the series (there are 11 in all), but your mileage may vary. Recommended if you're looking for something that isn't too gory, experimental or difficult to follow.

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