Shakespeare's Counselor

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Cleaning woman and karate expert Lily Bard is a woman with a complicated past. Trying her best to cope with her terrifying memories and horrible nightmares, she decides to join a weekly group therapy session in her hometown of Shakespeare, Arkansas.

At first, Lily can hardly believe the number of her fellow Shakespeareans who share her life experiences. As it turns out, the group members' feelings aren't the only things that need sorting out - they assemble for a session and find a woman dead, killed in bone-chilling fashion and deliberately left on display to send a twisted message. Who would commit such a horrendous crime, and who is the intended recipient of the message?

Investigate more mysterious doings with Lily Bard.

©2001 Charlaine Harris (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

"Infectious prose, engaging characters, crafty plotting." ( Library Journal)

Interesting!

If you read Lily Bard, start at the beginning with Shakespeare's Landlord. This is book 5, the end of the series, and I really hate to see it end. Lily is an unusual woman and reading about her life in Shakespeare is well worth the credit. Lily is intelligent and self-sufficient (that black belt helps). This book did not disappoint, and the counselor and her husband-humm-- I don't know...(no spoilers coming atcha). Very entertaining, from beginning to end. The narrator is also excellent, and listening to her voice reading the story was a combination to engage and delight.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

interesting

Wow this was a lot darker than expected. The culprits of the main mystery was really dark and twisted people. I was hooked by the red herring and did not see the ending until it was pretty obvious. I'm wondering if there is a short story or something out there that ties the period between this and when the couple shows up in the Southern Vampire series.

Again, a very easy listen and I thoroughly enjoyed it

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Weakest of the Series

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Only if they have read the entire Lilt Bard Series. And then only to reach the conclusion for Lily.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Make the bad guys not so obvious and make people we could care about at the center of the mystery. Too many new characters and no real emotional connection to any of them.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Lily was in the hospital and Jack was with her. They really connected as a solid couple and it was so true to life.

Did Shakespeare's Counselor inspire you to do anything?

No.

Any additional comments?

This was the final book of the series and I only finished it to get the payoff with Lily. Sadly the mystery never got off the ground and I was left feeling Lily had lucked out in solving the case.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Lily comes full circle, but a crazy mystery

What did you like best about Shakespeare's Counselor? What did you like least?

I have to say that out of the series this is the worst mystery, requiring the most suspension of disbelief and highest tolerance for weird behavior. It is also uncharacteristically gruesome in parts. However, I am still glad I listened to it. It may be that the only real attraction people would have for this book is to watch Lily's personal growth. After Lily became the victim of a hideous violent crime years ago, she became a very different person. The Lily of book 1 doesn't get close to people. She goes about her life stressing routine, not interacting with people if she can help it, taking karate and walking at night when she still can't cope. She's a recluse with serious issues. The Lily of book 5 has done some therapy, is in a relationship, has developed friends etc. As she became a more normal person she would of course lose some of her uniqueness. I suppose Harris felt she had done what she could with the character and moved on to other things. However I was glad to have stuck with Lily throughout the series to see her to this end.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Moves character along

Lilly is an interesting/compelling character. The mystery at the heart of this story was not as believable as others in the series. As well, I was distracted by some continuity issues. A cell phone that came off a belt holster was replaced in a pocketbook; a phone call to 911 was followed by one to the police, why have both? That said, I would happily give another book in the series a listen. I'd like to learn what Lilly does next.

Another great time

I love all of her series and never want them to end. Brava I am so thrilled with this story

good book

What made the experience of listening to Shakespeare's Counselor the most enjoyable?

I have really enjoyed the Lily Bard mysteries. I wish that there were more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lily, I love her attitude.

Have you listened to any of Julia Gibson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

A fine end to a good series

"Shakespeare's Counselor" is the final book in the Lily Bard series. I was surprised to find that I took great pleasure in this series. In some ways it is one long novel, charting Lily's journey from isolated, insomniac, night-walker, to a woman with a life that she has built through her strength, her integrity and finally by being courageous enough to allow herself to have something to lose.

The final book thankfully doesn't go down the path of unlikely happy endings. Bad things happen to Lily in this book and, at the end of it, she still has significant problems, but the book delivers credible growth for her and the people around her.

One of the ways this growth is achieved is that Lily enters therapy, with the Counselor of the title, to try to end the nightmares that rule her sleep. I was surprised at this. I'm not a fan of therapy. I'm with Willy Russel in changing Pschotherapist into Psycho The Rapist. I've never been convinced that the response to trauma should be a platitude-driven talking-tour of the route back to normalcy. I very much doubt that, after a significant trauma, normal is an option.

I was pleased to see that the therapy in the book worked less because of the skill of the counselor, than because the rape survivors in the group were willing to extend their trust and support to each other. There are some hard-to-take tales in therapy sessions. Sadly, none of them are difficult to believe. I was impressed that, even in therapy, Lily did not change her view that people are not naturally good and safety can only be obtained through vigilance and strength. Her counselor found the view bleak and wondered how Lily could live with it. I see it as a reasonable, fact-based conclusion, that provides a foundation for good choices.

The plot of "Shakespeare's Counselor" is a little complex, requiring some suspension of disbelief as the bad guys are not exactly run of the mill. The action is occasionally violent and brutal. The events in Lily's personal life add grief to an already tough situation and challenge Lily's definition of herself and her future.

By the end of the series, Lily has moved from loner cleaner, to an apprentice private detective with a husband and friends in a community that she now feels part of. Yet this is not a "Hallmark" sugar-sweet transformation. This book, even more than the rest of the series, is raised above the mundane by the authenticity of Lily's rage against what was done to her and the strength of her commitment to live her life to her own standards. It's a fine close to a series that I am sure I will read again.

I listened to the audiobook version of this series, performed by Julai Gibson. She did a wonderful job, not just in being "the voice of Lily Bard" but also in creating and sustaining voices for the other characters. She was the perfect choice for these books.

Great Series!

What made the experience of listening to Shakespeare's Counselor the most enjoyable?

I have found this entire series very entertaining. I started with Book 1 and am just listening to Shakespeare's Counselor. The story lines have been believable and original, I like the main character Lily Bard and find her journey and development interesting.

Which character – as performed by Julia Gibson – was your favorite?

I have enjoyed Julia Gibson's narration throughout. She manages to portray both female and male characters believably without over-acting or being distracting to the story line.

Lily Bard is a cold, judgement shrew...

I have read all the Lily Bard series up to this and will go no farther. Lily is a cold, self centered, man hating, judgmental shrew. There I no getting around it.

0 of 5 people found this review helpful