Lily Bard (Shakespeare) Books in Order: How to read Charlaine Harris’s series?

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Written by Charlaine Harris, the Lily Bard Shakespeare Series (also known as the Lily Bard Mysteries) takes place in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas where Lily Bard lives. She came here to forget her past.

Unfortunately, all changed when she came back from work and discovered her landlord’s body. Now, she has no choice but to find the murderer to avoid people digging into her past.

How To Read the Lily Bard Series in Order?

Every entry in the Lily Bard book series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

  1. Shakespeare’s Landlord – Cleaning lady Lily Bard came to Shakespeare, Arkansas, to escape her dark and violent past. So when she spots a dead body being dumped in the town green, she’s inclined to stay well away. Lily doesn’t care who did it, but when the police and local community start pointing fingers in her direction, she realizes that proving her innocence will depend on finding the real killer in quiet, secretive Shakespeare.
  2. Shakespeare’s Champion – When Lily stumbles upon the well-built corpse of a local bodybuilder, the town’s underlying racial tension begins to boil over. The white victim was somehow connected to two unsolved murders of black residents of Shakespeare–and a dogged policeman is determined to stop the killing. But it is Lily herself who may have to decide whether to stay and fight for justice or run away one more time.
  3. Shakespeare’s Christmas – Lily heads to her hometown of Bartley for her estranged sister’s Christmas Eve wedding. But there is something in the air besides holiday cheer: there’s murder. And Lily must work fast to clean up the messy case before her sister promises to love, honor, and obey a killer.
  1. Shakespeare’s Trollop – Shakespeare, Arkansas, is home to endless back roads, historic buildings, colorful residents-and the occasional murder. And when Deedra Dean–the local woman of ill repute–is found murdered, her promiscuous lifestyle leaves more than a few suspects. And being familiar with Deedra’s dirty laundry could make Lily the next Shakespearean to die…
  2. Shakespeare’s Counselor – Cleaning lady Lily Bard has joined a weekly group therapy session–to open up and finally face the past. That sounds positively enlightening until the gruesome murder of a fellow member sends a terrifying warning. But which person in the group is the message meant for? Why? And who next will suffer the consequences of a killer’s head games?
  3. Dead Giveaway – short story published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Lily “investigates” a death in the house next to the one she’s cleaning.

If you like our article for the Lily Bard Shakespeare reading order, you may be interested in the rest of Charlaine Harris‘ book series like the Aurora Teagarden series and the Sookie Stackhouse series.

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