Black Cat Crossing

Written by Kay Finch

Narrated by Amy Rubinate

Sabrina has never been the superstitious type. Still, when she moves to Lavender, Texas, to write her first novel and help her Aunt Rowe manage her vacation rental business, Sabrina can't avoid listening to the rumors that a local black cat is a jinx-especially after the stray in question leads her directly to the scene of a murder.

The deceased turns out to be none other than her Aunt Rowe's awful cousin Bobby Joe Flowers, a known cheat and womanizer who had no shortage of enemies. The only problem is that Aunt Rowe and Bobby Joe had quarreled just before the cousin turned up dead, leaving Rowe at the top of the long list of suspects. Now it's up to Sabrina to clear her aunt's name. Luckily for her, she's got a new sidekick, Hitchcock the Bad Luck Cat, to help her sniff out clues and stalk a killer before Aunt Rowe winds up the victim of even more misfortune . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781541485419

Reviews for Black Cat Crossing

[drapple_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable cozy mystery.

[samantha71020 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary from Goodreads:"Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims."My Thoughts:Real Murders was an interesting beginning to this cozy mystery series and I'm looking forward to reading more! I've been wanting to begin this series every since I finished the last book in the Harper Connelly series (which I loved) by this same author. I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed in the least by this book and actually enjoyed it quite a lot. "Roe" is a part of a club that analyzes serial killers from the past. Unfortunately, one of the members of the club is found dead and soon it becomes very apparent that one of those same members must be the killer. Roe was such a great main character for a variety of reasons. She's a librarian for one which instantly made me like her ;) But she is also a character that is growing into herself. She starts off the book as a quieter, shy type of girl and by the end of the book she is really beginning to realize all of the possibilities that she has in front of her. I liked seeing the growth of her character throughout the story and I am looking forward to seeing it continue in future books. The mystery was a good whodunnit and for a cozy it was surprisingly grislier than I would have thought. It kept me hooked though as I tried to figure out who the killer could be. And let me tell you that I was nowhere close to being right...the ending took me by complete surprise!This book ended up to a surprisingly good read, and this is a series that I will be continuing on with. Yes...another series (sometimes I wonder what I am thinking with ALL of these series). But I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble Roe manages to get herself into next. Recommended to fans of cozy mysteries!Bottom Line: A fun read that kept me guessing!Disclosure: Another lovely book checked out from my local library :)

[pacey1927 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The premise of this book is that a club of people meet to discuss real murders, whodunit and why? Then at one meeting, Aurora Teagarden finds the body of one of the members. She has been murdered apparently to copycat the murder the club was going to discuss that very night. Onward the story goes, the trail of bodies getting bloodier. There seems to be no doubt to anyone that one of the members of the club is the murderer. The plot of 'Real Murders' is excellent. Aurora is sort of bland, at least in this first installment. I didn't find myself feeling one way or another towards her, except I thought it was cute when she would notice how odd it was that she suddenly had the attention of not one, but two men, after years of being single. I admit I had my pick of who the murderer was about half way through and I was suprised to find out that I was wrong. I always enjoy a mystery with a suprises ending. To summarize, this was a good, not a great book. I can't really put my finger on what it is that kept this book from being less than stellar in my eyes. Maybe I just expected it to be more. "Real Murders" was worth the money, and brief amount of time it took for me to read it.

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had always passed on this Harris series, as it never sounded interesting to me, and I was right. I didn't care for the story: A group of "friends" from a small town get together once a month to discuss their passion "Real Murders", each has a specialty from Lizzie Borden to Serial Killers of which one is discussed every month.This particular month, one of the members is found murdered after the meeting, her murder made to copy one from the past..... As the weeks pass there are several more murders, all mimicking a past real murder, and there is an attempted murder.The main character, Aurora Teagarden, is a librarian, but I found her job duties at conflict with what I know to be a real librarian's job duties to be....I never warmed up to the main character nor any of the others...... they all seemed a bit flat. I'm not likely to read anything else in this series.

[kegsoccer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Real Murders" by Charlaine Harris is the first book in the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. Aurora 'Roe' Teagarden is a librarian who belongs to a club called 'Real Murders'. On the night that Roe is set to give a presentation on the Wallace murders, she discovers a fellow club member dead. That's not the only problem. The woman killed is arranged exactly the way that Julia Wallace was years ago, down to the very last detail. The club decides not to meet anymore, but it seems it is too late. Another murder takes place, this time copying another famous killing. Who is doing it? Is it the new neighbor and famous writer Robin Crusoe? Police officer Arthur Smith? Well, considering Roe is going out with both of them, she hopes not. But it could be anyone, and time is running out! I loved this book, and it kept me guessing till the end. Don't forget to read the rest in this series. Next is A Bone To Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Book 2, followed by Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 4, Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 5, Fool And His Honey: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 6, Last Scene Alive (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries), and Poppy Done To Death: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 8. Or if you'd like to try a different series by Charlaine Harris, check out the Lily Bard mysteries.(Shakespeare's Landlord (The First Lily Bard Mystery), "Shakespeare's Champion", Shakespeare's Christmas", "Shakespeare's Trollop", and Shakespeare's Counselor") Or her new supernatural Southern Vampire Mysteries (Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bk. 1), "Living Dead in Dallas", "Club Dead", "Dead to the World", "Dead as a Doornail", "Definitely Dead", and "All Together Dead")

[cbl_tn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The members of Lawrenceton, Georgia's, Real Murders Club share an interest in true crime. Librarian Aurora Teagarden is looking forward to making a presentation at the club meeting until she discovers the body of club member Mamie Wright. Roe is horrified when she realizes that Mamie's murder parallels the Wallace murder that was to be the topic of the evening's discussion. It isn't long before more murders with historical parallels are discovered. Could the murderer be a member of Real Murders with more than an academic interest in the subject?The murder plot and its investigation are about average for the cozy genre. The characters, setting, and true crime hook will be enough to distract most readers from any deficiencies in the plot. I love books with librarians as characters so I plan to continue with this series.

[honeydew69862004 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Real Murders is the first in the Aurora Teagarden series. Roe is a librarian who is part of a Real Murders Club that talks about historical murders. Suddenly someone is copy cating the murders on the members of the club. A good first book for the series but not as good as her Stackhouse series.

[eyelit-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

will give second in series a chance to see if it gets any better...

[geoffhabiger · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the book, and Charlaine does a good job of weaving the mystery. Aurora is a good character, even if she is not a typical cozy mystery investigator. She doesn't think she can solve the crime on her own, or even assist the police in their efforts (beyond the times she's required to do so). She doesn't butt into the investigation or go off to do her own sleuthing except for one time. She's just a person caught in the investigation, targeted by the murderer for some reason, and she's trying to get through it. I like how Aurora is handled as it "feels" more real. A good cozy mystery.

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Listening to Real Murders, the first book in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden mysteries, after listening to number ten, Sleep Like a Baby, was a lot of fun. I suspect that Ms. Harris had reread the first book before writing the tenth because of some things Roe thought here that we could see in the later book. I also got a big chuckle out of the back of this audio edition implying that this was a new series instead of Ms. Harris' first.The Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard series have no hints of the paranormal in them, but we know they both take place in the same universe as the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire mysteries. (Well, Lily herself has appeared in at least one Sookie book.) Supporting characters from all three series, as well as the Harper Connelly series have appeared in the Midnight, Texas series.If you enjoy Ms. Harris' style and don't mind the lack of the paranormal, or if you're a cozy mystery fan, you should enjoy this. I liked Ms. Plummer's narration.

[kaulsu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This series was brought to my attention because of the narrator. I will read a couple more to see if the books mature, and to see if the prose hooks me as much as Therese Plummer. My reaction was, “really, murder?” And each one gorier than the last. For the most part, Harris covered all the basics, but she doesn’t seem to know 6-yr olds well: she is reminded to not let little forget his prayers, but never thinks to have him wash up for dinner?It was weird to read a contemporary novel and it not have cell phones. Heck, Ro didn’t even have an answering machine.

[stevejwales · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great premise - a group who enjoy discussing real-life murders become the victims or implicated as suspects in copycat killings, and it seems certain that one of them is actually behind it. An engrossing mystery.

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cozy mysteries are kind of their own special thing - small towns, small concerns, lots of focus on interpersonal relationships, an improbable body count. Real Murders fits the mode neatly, and the main character is sympathetic without quite crossing the line to pathetic - although there are moments where it's close.

The conceit - that someone in a group of true crime buffs is committing murders based on historic cases - is moderately neat and provides a logical basis for the main character's involvement. I'm not a huge fan of the "sleuth ends up in personal danger" trope of the genre, but it's probably unavoidable. Otherwise a satisfying little story - Charlaine Harris is a perfectly competent writer and knows exactly what she's doing here.

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Charlaine Harris’s non-paranormal series, and I liked it quite a bit. Roe Teagarden is our mild-mannered librarian heroine – tiny, bespectacled, and unable to keep her nose out of other people’s business. Though when she’s the one to find the body of one of her fellow Real Murders Club members prior to a meeting, it’s hard to argue that it’s not her business too.Through Roe, we meet her other true-crime-obsessed associates and try to figure out which one could possibly be the killer. We also get a little bit of a love triangle, as Roe finds herself attracted to not only the detective assigned to the case, but her new neighbor, a crime novelist. In true cozy mystery fashion, the characters in Lawrenceton are quite colorful.Definitely a series I will be continuing.

[librarycin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Aurora (Roe) Teagarden is a librarian in small-town Georgia. She is part of a group of people who call themselves the “Real Murder Club”. This group is interested in discussing real-life historical murder cases. When Roe finds one of the club members, murdered, just before one of their meetings, the entire club is under suspicion, especially since the manner of the murder is similar to one of the historical cases the club has discussed. More murders come later, also in similar fashion to historical murders. The book was ok, but it wasn’t as interesting to me as the premise made it sound. I listened to the audio and did lose focus at times. I liked Roe and I enjoyed following her personal life. However, I’m not sure if I’ll continue the series or not.

[beckyjg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Charlaine Harris is best known for the recent success of her Southern Vampire series starring Sookie Stackhouse, which was turned into the HBO series True Blood. But she has been an active, prolific writer for two decades. In addition to the Sookie Stackhouse books, Harris is the author of three other series--the Lily Bard mysteries, the Harper Connelly mysteries, and the series that started it all, and which is just recently back in print, the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. It's a mark of Charlaine Harris's talent and creative energy that she can write three series which are, on the surface, so alike--all set in the south and each featuring an independent, plucky amateur sleuth--and yet have each be so distinct from the others.Real Murders, the first of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, is a lovely contemporary twist on the traditional cozy mystery. Aurora, known as Roe, is a librarian in the small Georgia town of Lawrenceton. She's also one of the founding members of a club of true crime afficionados which meets once a month to discuss classic murders. As the club is gathering for a meeting in which Roe is to lecture on a British case from the thirties two things happen: a stranger is introduced to the group and a body is discovered. A murdered body, which appears to mimic exactly the case to be discussed that night. Things happen very quickly after that. One murder follows another, and each appears to be staged as closely as possible to mirror a famous real murder from the past. Roe Teagarden doesn't do an inordinate amount of sleuthing, and only solves the mystery by pure blind chance. But still, she's a lively, engaged, intelligent heroine who seems poised to grow as both a person and a detective.

[mickyfine · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Life is quiet for small-town librarian Aurora Teagarden and the biggest event on her weekly social calendar is the meeting of the Real Murders Club. This small group meets regularly to explore historical murders and discuss them with others who share their interest. But when Aurora finds one of the members murdered in the exact same way as the historical murder she was to discuss, life stops being quiet. As bodies pile up it quickly becomes clear that someone in the Real Murders Club has decided to get hands-on experience.I picked this one up because I'd enjoyed one of the made-for-TV movies based on the book series. Plus, I'm always a sucker for any book with a librarian as a main character. However, this book was decidedly underwhelming. While the mystery itself is decent, the writing was Bad. The first murder victim is described as "so dead" twice in as many pages. I was kind of surprised by this as I've read several of Harris's other novels and don't remember the writing quality being this sub-par. Aurora's internal comments about other characters come off as catty and scenes where there should be a spark of attraction come off flat and clinical. I also had professional quibbles about some of the tasks Aurora does in her job that definitely wouldn't fall into a librarian's tasks (even a small-town librarian), particularly as the book states they use volunteers and I don't think they can entirely be written off by the fact that the book was originally published in 1990. Given my prior experiences with Harris, I'm willing to give another book in this series a try but I was underwhelmed by this first outing.

[jshillingford_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This series has great potential. I intially was going to give it 3.5 stars since the mystery wasn't well developed, and then I thought - I enjoyed it, a lot. It's a cozy mystery with an Angela Lansbury-type sleuth. Aurora Teagraden is the librarian in a small town. So, it's a little predictable, but the character is interesting and the plots in the series do get much better. Aurora is part of a club that meets regularly to discuss real, historical murder cases. Then people start turning up dead in copy cat kills. It must be a member of the club, but who?

[cinderh_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think this may be more of a 3.5 for me. It's my first cozy type mystery and I'm not sure it's the genre for me. I've read all the Sookie Stackhouse books and wanted to give Ms. Harris's other works a try. I did like most of the characters, but there were a lot. Not sure I'll remember everyone when I read the second book. There were a couple love interests for Aurora, but I'm not sure they were believable for me. In general the characters didn't come as alive for me as in the Stackhouse books. It was a nice quick paced book though and I didn't pick out the 'who done it'. I will continue on with the series for a few more books because I'd like to see the characters come a little more alive and that may happen as I get to know them better.

[klarsenmd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A quick, fun, murder mystery. A little predictable, but worth the day it took to read.

[nbmars · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was only Harris’s third book ever, and I think it’s clear she has not yet hit her stride. Aurora Teagarden is a 28-year-old librarian in Lawrenceton, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. She belongs to a book club called Real Murders, which meets once a month to discuss famous crimes of the past. Soon, club members start dying in ways that replicate these famous crimes. Since these book club members are quite interested in such things, those who aren’t getting killed are trying to solve the crimes.Evaluation: This story has none of the trademark features of Harris’s writing that make her books so appealing to me: the charming evocation of life in the South; engaging portraits of quirky characters; snappy writing with humorous turns; and romantic interludes that are creatively complicated. Rather, in this book, the characters are dull, and even the living ones are mostly lifeless; the writing seems amateurish; and the romance is a yawn.On the plus side, I am impressed and amazed at her growth in subsequent books!

[leggimgan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could tell that Harris wrote "Aurora Teagarden" mysteries well before "Sookie Stackhouse" fantasies. This first book read very fast and I have a feeling this might have been one of her beginning books. Nevertheless it captured my attention, I love "Roe" as a character and can not wait to finish the rest of the series. I was also happy that if she did write it a long time ago, nothing was changed for the republished edition.

[averitasm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked the first Roe Teagarden Mystery, she could be me or you, and it was more than just a cozy it had some real suspense, I got lulled a bit around the middle of the book but I find myself wanting the next book. I would so far suggest this author to anyone looking for a good read.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is an easy enough read, but lacks the charisma of her Sookie Stackhouse books. There are a lot of characters, and a lot going on, maybe too much. Lacked the aura of suspense a good murder mystery should have.

[krumbs_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting kick-off to a mystery series. Non-assuming librarian solves a murder, mostly inadvertently. She has some quirky interests (of course) and she's a nice balance of goody-goody and not so nice.

[weaselofdoom · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Aurora (Roe) Teagarden is a 28-year-old librarian in a Lawrenceton, Georgia. She belongs to a club called Real Murders, twelve people who meet once a month to talk about famous murder cases from the past. But on a night when it is her turn to present, she finds a fellow club member dead, killed in a manner eerily resembling the Wallace case, the subject of Roe’s presentation. It appears obvious that the murderer must be one of the club members. Roe tries to figure out who it is, and finds some romance along the way.Two things have really hampered my enjoyment of Real Murders. One is the odd linguistic choices. The other is Roe herself.1) Strange language. One character’s eyes are constantly referred to as “tan.” Eyebrows have an unnerving tendency to fly all over people’s faces. There are “disk drives” instead of diskettes next to a computer. Magazines spill out like a trail of slime. You get the idea.2) Roe. I just could not warm up to Aurora Teagarden in this book (liked her a lot more in Three Bedrooms, One Corpse). She seemed too condescending and self-centered, preferring to focus on the faults of those around her, rather than their good qualities. I could totally be projecting, too :PI am glad I read Three Bedrooms, One Corpse first, because had I started with Real Murders, I am not sure I would have wanted to read the rest of the Aurora Teagarden series. This is an early Charlaine Harris book, and it definitely shows. She has grown as a writer tremendously in the past 20 years, and that’s wonderful to see.

[verenka · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nice little cozy mystery, I simply *have* to read because the main character is a librarian.It's a nice enough story, but she is milking the stereotype very much. And while the story and the characters were well crafted, it all ended rather too abruptly for my taste and the motives behind the murders were hardly explored, considering one character is a librarian interested in true crime and the other a crime writer. I'm still curious enough to read at least another book of the series.

[kwadyko · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love a good murder mystery...it really was a fun puzzle! #punkrocklibrarian

[thelibraryhag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Aurora (Roe) Teagarden is a librarian in her Georgia hometown and a member of Real Murders, a club that studies historical murders. When members start turning up dead, Roe can not help but notice the similarities to some of the very crimes they have studied. She and a cast of well drawn characters work to solve the mystery before Roe herself becomes a victim.I really enjoyed this first in the series. The series is being reissued and I am glad to find a new series that is smart and fun. Since it was first published in the early 90's, there is not a cell phone or website to be found. That is actually refreshing. I look forward to the next installment that is coming soon.

[dukefan86 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this first installment in the Aurora Teagarden series. Although I've read other mysteries where the protagonist is a librarian, I appreciated the twist that Aurora "Roe" was a member of a local club (called Real Murders) that met monthly to discuss famous true crimes in history. As it happens, the murders in this story were patterned after "true crimes," which had an inpact on the club, to say the least! Although the local "Real Murders" Club disbanded during the murder investigations, I wonder if it reappears in future books in this series.

I was surprised by who the killers were, and enjoyed the ending. It was a good read on a holiday weekend!