ARC Review: Sleep Like a Baby by Charlaine Harris

Sleep Like a Baby
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden Mysteries (Book 10)
Publication: Minotaur Books (September 26, 2017)

Description: In Sleep Like a Baby, the latest installment of the #1 New York Times Bestselling Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series, Robin and Aurora have finally begun their adventure in parenting. With newborn Sophie proving to be quite a handful, Roe’s mother pays for a partially trained nurse, Virginia Mitchell, to come help the new parents for a few weeks. Virginia proves to be especially helpful when Robin has to leave town for work and Roe is struck with a bad case of the flu.

One particularly stormy night, Roe wakes to hear her daughter crying and Virginia nowhere to be found. Roe's brother Philip helps her search the house and they happen upon a body outside… but it isn’t Virginia’s. Now, not only does she have a newborn to care for and a vulnerable new marriage to nurture, Roe also has to contend with a new puzzle -- who is this mystery woman dead in their backyard, and what happened to Virginia? This heart-pounding and exciting next installment of the Aurora Teagarden series will leave fans happy and hungry for more.

My Thoughts: Roe and Robin are getting used to being parents to their baby Sophie. Roe is breast feeding and her life revolves around feeding and caring for her new baby. When Robin, who is up for an Anthony award, goes to Bouchercon, Roe doesn't want to tell him that she is coming down with the flu. She calls in Virginia Mitchell who helped when she and Sophie were just home from the hospital. Virginia will be there at night while Robin is gone.

Roe gets sicker and sicker but between Virginia and Roe's younger brother Philip they are surviving and Roe can be positive when Robin calls to check in. But one night, Roe wakes up to hear Sophie crying through the baby monitor. When she makes her way to Sophie there is no Virginia. She wakes Philip and their search of the house doesn't find Virginia anywhere. When they check the backyard, they see a body but it is not Virginia.

When the woman in the yard is identified as Tracy Beal. She had stalked Robin and attempted to kill Roe. Both Robin and Roe thought that she was still in police custody. When a neighbor says he thought he saw Robin in the yard at the time of Tracy's death, he comes under police suspicion until he can prove he was at the convention.

Besides wondering what happened to Virginia and wondering who killed Tracy, Roe's stepfather has a heart attack and is in the ICU. Her mother won't leave him and Roe has to fit in hospital visits to support her mother. Between a gift flower arrangement with no card, a missing sweater, missing keys, a stolen diaper bag, and a break-in, there are all sorts of clues for Roe to decipher.

This was an entertaining cozy mystery and just perfect for fans of the Aurora Teagarden series.

Favorite Quote:

Emily Scott, our priest's wife, was in my bedroom doorway before I could finish the paroxysm. I was as amazed as if Mother Teresa had popped in . . . or I would have been, if I hadn't felt like death warmed over. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.