Charlaine Harris - The Julius House (Aurora Teagarden)

Table of Contents

Praise for The Julius House

"Roe is so charming, you will want to go back and read the first three. Mostly Murder

"A witches brew of decorous old bones, whiffs of international intrigue, and helpful wedding tips interspersed with nightly bouts of tasteful, enthusiastic offscreen coupling. Hands down Roes most bizarre adventure to date.

Kirkus Reviews

Good reading, augmented by solid characterization and occasional humor. Library Journal

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse

[A] high-spirited southern cozy. Publishers Weekly

Nicely done southern, small-town ambience... [A] breezy, unpretentious style. Kirkus Reviews

Delightful... Clearly focused plot, animated description of character and real estate, and sparkling prose commend this breath of fresh air to all collections.

Library Journal

A Bone to Pick

Harris provides some genuinely funny scenes as Aurora breezily unravels the murderers identity... supported by an appealing cast of southern gothic characters.

Publishers Weekly

A pleasant, fast read... Enjoyable. AllReaders.com

Entertaining. Booklist

Pleasant reading... Heartily recommend[ed].

Pen & Dagger

Real Murders

Real Murders is the first adventure for Harriss perceptive protagonist and I eagerly look forward to the second... Harriss story alternately charms and chills, a difficult combination she manages with aplomb and brilliance.

Carolyn Hart, award-winning author of Set Sail for Murder

An ingenious plot and sufficient flow of blood keep the pages flying in Harriss novel... Harris draws the guilty and the innocent into an engrossing tale while inventing a heroine as capable and potentially complex as P.D. Jamess Cordelia Gray. Publishers Weekly

Praise for Charlaine Harriss

Southern Vampire novels featuring Sookie Stackhouse

The goofy charm of Harriss world, with its humor and occasional terror, is what makes Dead Until Dark so delightful. The Denver Post

Harris brings off this blend of mystery and vampires better than most. San Francisco Chronicle

A fun, fast, funny, and wonderfully intriguing blend of vampire and mystery thats hard to put down and should not be missed.

Susan Sizemore, New York Times bestselling author of Primal Heat and the Laws of the Blood series

Praise for Charlaine Harriss Harper Connelly Mysteries

"Too much fun. Wilmington (NC) Star-News

"Harris debuts a series that just might surpass all her others in popularity... Will have readers dying for more.

Booklist

Fast pacing, excellent character development, and a strong story line... This fabulous opening gambit affirms that every series Charlaine Harris creates is utterly fantastic.

Midwest Book Review

Praise for Charlaine Harriss Lily Bard Mysteries

Lily Bard [is] the equal of Kay Scarpetta, Kinsey Mill-hone, and V. I. Warshawski. Library Journal

First-rate mystery. Midwest Book Review

Lily Bard gives as good as she gets. The reading is fast and the actions faster, proving that women really are the better half. Mostly Murder

One of the best-drawn and most compelling characters in contemporary mystery fictioncomplex, smart, street-wise, tough. Booklist

Praise for A Secret Rage

"Compelling... Powerful. The Boston Globe

"Not many novels, and no mysteries, have shaken me as brutally as A Secret Rage . Los Angeles Times

Absorbing tension... Effective crime fiction.

Booklist

A thriller built on a vital issue... Riveting.

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Sweet and Deadly

A first-rate mystery with special character... As convincing as it is surprising in the final revelation.

The Washington Post

Harris writes neatly and with assurance, and she avoids the goo that makes equivalent books so sticky.

The New York Times Book Review

Packs a perennial punch. It offers a rarity in popular fiction: an unromanticized portrait of a southern girl.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Ace Books by Charlaine Harris

The Sookie Stackhouse Novels
DEAD UNTIL DARK
LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS
CLUB DEAD
DEAD TO THE WORLD
DEAD AS A DOORNAIL
DEFINITELY DEAD
ALL TOGETHER DEAD
FROM DEAD TO WORSE

MANY BLOODY RETURNS
edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner

Berkley Prime Crime Books by Charlaine Harris

The Harper Connelly Mysteries
GRAVE SIGHT
GRAVE SURPRISE
AN ICE COLD GRAVE

The Lily Bard Mysteries
SHAKESPEARES LANDLORD
SHAKESPEARES CHAMPION
SHAKESPEARES TROLLOP
SHAKESPEARES COUNSELOR

The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries
REAL MURDERS
A BONE TO PICK
THREE BEDROOMS, ONE CORPSE
THE JULIUS HOUSE

SWEET AND DEADLY
A SECRET RAGE

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

THE JULIUS HOUSE

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

Copyright 1995 by Charlaine Harris.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

eISBN : 978-1-436-22111-5

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
The name BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the BERKLEY PRIME CRIME design
are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

http://us.penguingroup.com

My thanks to
the Reverend Gary Nowlin,
attorney Mike Epley,
Arkansas state park ranger Jim Gann,
chemist Glenn McCelland,
Dennis of the Georgia State Forensic Department,
and Dr. Aung Than
for their help with various parts of this book.
Mistakes are my own, not theirs.

Chapter One

The Julius family vanished six years before I married Martin Bartell.

They disappeared so abruptly that some people in Lawrenceton phoned the National Enquirer to tell a reporter that the Juliuses had been abducted by aliens.

I had been home from college for several years and was working in the Lawrenceton Public Library when whatever it washappened to T.C., Hope, and Charity Julius. And I was as full of speculation as anyone else.