HomeArts & LifestyleCharlaine Harris – Poppy Done To Death review

Charlaine Harris – Poppy Done To Death review

The Aurora Teagarden series was originally published from 1990 to 2003. It was the first fiction series by Charlaine Harris who is of course now best-known for her Sookie Stackhouse books which were turned into the hit show True Blood for HBO. Over the last few months the Aurora Teagarden books have been republished along with Harris other two series Lily Bard and Harper Connolly. Poppy Done To Death is the eighth and final book featuring Aurora Teagarden and brings the page-turning series to a close.

In Poppy Done To Death Aurora is once again caught up in a murder mystery but this time it’s incredibly close to home when her sister-in-law Poppy is murdered. It’s Aurora aka Roe who stumbles upon the body when she calls at Poppy’s to find out why she didn’t turn up for her induction to the Uppity Women Club. With the help of her other sister-in-law Melinda, Aurora embarks on her own investigation when the secrets of Poppy and her husband John David threaten to become public knowledge. In the midst of it all Roe’s brother Phillip turns up on her doorstep and she has to deal with her increasing feelings for on/off boyfriend Robin Crusoe.

The main bulk of the story focuses on Poppy’s death and the slowly reveals the life she was leading up to her final moments. Both Poppy and her husband John David enjoyed a string of affairs giving Roe a long list of potential suspects and plenty of surprises along the way. With Melinda’s help Roe starts to narrow down her list and the two women try to keep their investigation secret from the police after Arthur Smith is put in charge of the case who was one of the men Poppy had been having an affair with. He also has a long and complex history with Roe with the two barely on speaking terms at this point in the series.

Poppy Done To Death finds Roe in a transition period. After the events of Last Scene Alive, Roe has entered into a casual relationship with Robin Crusoe but isn’t certain if she wants to get more serious or not. Now living in a new house, which she book at the end of the last book, Roe has dealt with her grief for first husband Martin and seems prepared to move on. She’s thrown a curveball when her half-brother Phillip appears, someone she hasn’t seen properly since her father and step-mother moved to California after he got almost murdered in the first book of the series Real Murders.

We’re absolutely gutted that Harris decided to stop the Aurora Teagarden series with Poppy Done To Death. The book leaves a lot of questions unanswered whilst giving Roe an ending of some description. Like the previous seven books in the series, Poppy Done To Death is an addictive and page-turning read and Harris has a writing style that grips you. We whipped through the book in a couple of sittings as we simply couldn’t put it down. Poppy Done To Death is the strongest book in the series and as with the Lily Bard series, Aurora Teagarden bows out on a high.

Pip Ellwood-Hughes
Pip Ellwood-Hughes
Pip is the owner and Editor of Entertainment Focus, and the Managing Director of Piñata Media. With over 19 years of journalism experience, Pip has interviewed some of the biggest stars in the entertainment world. He is also a qualified digital marketing expert with over 20 years of experience.
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