Shakespeare's Champion

Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 2

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

When Lily stumbles upon the well-built corpse of a local body builder - his neck broken by a barbell - 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.Investigate more mysterious doings with Lily Bard.©1997 Charlaine Harris Schulz (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Lily Bard is a complex woman who embodies many of the contradictions of the modern South - its dark side as well as its charm - and this suspenseful, deftly written novel will send new fans scrambling to read its predecessor." (Amazon.com review)

Simple well thought out story

Charlaine Harris is always amazing. This is my second time going through the series. Sitting back and listening is enjoyable. If you’re looking for a well written playful mystery you have found it

Pleasant, not great

I like LIly Bard and the stories of her life in the small-town South of Shakespeare, Arkansas. In this book, Lily is in the wrong place at the wrong time on several occasions, all for very good and unrelated reasons, but it nearly gets her killed. We meet Jack, who will become a big part of her life, and who also finds himself in far greater danger than he expected when he took his in this little town.


Julia Gibson does a decent job of reading the story, but I think somehow her very level voice takes some of the excitement out of the book (I read it before listening, a couple of years ago). The some of the events that take place are quite exciting, but you wouldn't know it from just listening to the sound levels.


Really good story, meh reading. I give this a 3.5, taking off a half-point or so for the reader.

Painfully Current

I loved this story. Lily is one of my favorite Harris characters. I look forward to reading the next volume in this series.

Love Lily

I love Lily & her little town. Great story. Great characters . What else could you ask for?

Love the Lily Bard series

I’ve read the series a few times and decided to give the audio book a go. I like the narrater, she hits the right tones and doesn’t overdo it on accents, etc