As much as I loved Charlaine Harris’ Lily Bard mysteries and the Midnight, Texas novels, I’ve never been a fan of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. But, Harris and Aurora are popular enough that there’s a Hallmark mystery series. Even so, I found the tenth book, Sleep Like a Baby to be slow, with a whiny Aurora.
Aurora finally has her baby at the beginning of the book. Two months later, she’s still dealing with the lack of sleep and breastfeeding when her husband, Robin, has to go out of town to Bouchercon, the annual mystery convention. But, Robin can tell Aurora is coming down with something, and he arranges for a babysitter to come in at night. It’s worse than either of them expected. Aurora succumbs to the flu, and only manages to handle the baby with the help of her stepbrother, Phillip, during the day, and the babysitter, Virginia, at night. Then, Virginia disappears on the same night Aurora discovers a woman’s body in the backyard.
Still woozy from the flu, Aurora copes as well as she can with the police investigation, but she easily angers. And, the police seem distracted, dealing with other crimes at the same time. It’s Phillip who contacts Robin who feels guilty that he wasn’t home when Aurora needed him. Once Robin is home, he’s the one who points out that the victim isn’t exactly a stranger. Both Robin and Aurora had to deal with her before. Now, while they’re coping with her murder and the missing babysitter, Aurora’s stepfather has a heart attack.
I will admit, a sleep-deprived sick Aurora has a reason to be whiny. But, all the details of the baby, the breastfeeding, and domestic bliss was a little too much for me. I really didn’t care. I found Bouchercon, and the few details of Robin’s conference to be more interesting. But fans of the series and the television series will enjoy watching the changes in the family life. I just found Sleep Like a Baby to be slow-paced. And, I really didn’t care that the baby was the greatest baby in the world.
Charlaine Harris’ website is www.charlaineharris.com
Sleep Like a Baby by Charlaine Harris. Minotaur Books. 2017. ISBN 9781250090065 (hardcover), 272p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.
