Reviews for Shakespeare's Trollop (Lily Bard Series #4)

The average rating for Shakespeare's Trollop (Lily Bard Series #4) based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-04-22 00:00:00 Marc Lasecki This is the fourth book in the Lily Bard series and while I really enjoyed the first two books, at this point I think the series is starting to run its course. Lily is such a tough and strong female character but unfortunately her cattiness and victim blaming was on display much more in this book than her positive attributes. Lily cleans houses and businesses for a living and she is shocked when she discovers the dead body of one of her clients. It's pretty clear to Lily when she finds Deedra in a parked car in the woods, she was murdered. Who killed Deedra and why? Deedra liked sleeping with men and it's something she did quite often. This book was first published almost 20 years ago and that is something I had to keep reminding myself while reading. Maybe this story would have been written differently by the author if it came out today. It is so weird because it seems like the author was aware of the fact just because a woman sleeps around, it doesn't mean she deserves to die but yet there still seemed to be a lot of victim blaming going on throughout the story. Between that and the cattiness of Lily, I just didn't enjoy this book as much as others in the series.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-06-08 00:00:00 Denver Love "But it was not her weakness that had caused her death; it was one of her strengths that had killed her." Many readers have been turned off by the disparaging inner thoughts from the main character, Lily, about victim's lifestyles and "slut shaming." I've seen from reviews that some wouldn't even continue the series. Now, I wouldn't stop the series over something such as that since I know many books start with a character that needs to grow more into realization and knowledge. This book highlights the annoyances so many hold about Lily, not apologizing and actually enhancing the prejudice. Shakespeare's trollop is even named after the 'town trollop' that Lily mentally disses in each book. I'm not a fan of slut shaming either, but Harris did make it clear the victim has always been ridiculous undiscriminating with who she sleeps with, how often, the toys, the tapes. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, however, as Lily closes her eyes on the last page, thinking deeper about Deedra and her life. There was a scene that especially irked me. Lily felt violated and angry about Deedra's death eventually, and in one scene was angry while using her anger against the punching bag. She was trying to reassure herself by saying, "She was nothing," "She was nothing," while punching. That's a low blow. Deedra may have been slutty by Lily's terms, but a nothing because of that? For shame, Lily. For shame, Harris. There's not a high mystery this time around either. Lily ponders here and there but does not do actual snooping. Things just kind of fall into place as she encounters a situation after another. There is a development with Jack, of course, that's big for Lily. I'm not feeling realism in their relationship or spark from him. Claude and Carrie are sweet and that development was quick. The villains turned out very surprising, as the person's been around for awhile and this kind of came out of nowhere. That said, it wasn't unrealistic because of that....but it was impossible for a mystery reader to ever guess. It was more of a thriller/suspense book shock ending, not a reasonable conclusion a detective could solve until one of the last page clues.