Book five in the Aurora Teagarden series, Dead Over Heels, relies heavily on information from prior books. Roe is the center of attention yet again, but as usual, she doesn’t see her role in events until it’s nearly too late.
Book Information
Publisher: JABberwocky Literary Agency
First Published: Nov 1 1996
Format: ebook
Source: Library
Genre: Mystery
Series: Aurora Teagarden #5
Aurora Teagarden is the third Charlaine Harris series I’ve read, the oldest of the three. Dead Over Heels was first published in 1995. The language, norms, etc, are all terrifically dated. I try to avoid using contemporary values to judge an older book. Still, some things take me right out of the moment and leave me disgruntled. The expectations for men and women in romantic relationships in this series blew my mind. For example, Roe got married in a previous book, and people judged her negatively for not taking her husband’s last name and for acting without checking with her husband first. Most POC characters are described by the colour of their skin. There’s definitely a lot of “othering” that goes on. Roe goes so far as to include in her internal monologue something along the lines of “I get along with other black people, so it’s not because of her blackness that we don’t get along.” It’s awkward as heck.
All three of the Charlaine Harris series I’ve read are set in the South (Sookie Stackhouse, Gunnie Rose, and Aurora Teagarden). When I read the Sookie Stackhouse series in the 2010s, I didn’t find anything objectionable. Gunnie Rose was recently published and is also unobjectable. I’m going to blame my discomfort with this series on its age and cultural differences.
Dead Over Heels starts with a bang, literally. Roe meanders through most of the book, annoyed with people for not doing what she’d like them to do the first time or getting in her way. Towards the end, when things click for her, it does get pretty tense. I found the mystery to be pretty implausible. If someone felt that strongly, you’d think it’d have shown itself in a more benign way at some point before it broke out in catastrophe.
Dead Over Heels was a little disjointed for me. The mystery plot wasn’t strong enough, and it just seemed like a series of loosely strung-together events. I’m hoping the next book in the series is more engaging.