Last Scene Alive (2002) (edit title/settings)

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Characters edit see section history

• Aurora Teagarden: "Roe" - Martin's widow; Barrett's stepmother; Part-time librarian; Is four-eleven and chesty; Likes to wear bright and funky glasses to match her mood or her outfit; Has long, wavy brown hair with streaks and round dark brown eyes; 36 years old; Former Real Murders Club member
• Martin Bartell: Roe's husband; Barrett's father; Barby's brother; Was Vice President of manufacturing at Pan-Am Agra; Was five-ten with heavily muscled arms and chest; 49 years old; Had prematurely white hair that used to be black and the light brown eyes with a golden touch; Ex-Army and Vietnam veteran; Used to work for a shadowy CIA-funded company; Died of a heart attack almost a year before
• Barrett Bartell: Roe's stepson; Martin & Cindy's son; Regina's cousin; Is in his late 20's; A college grad; An up-and-coming actor; Is six feet and fit; Has dark blond hair
• Aida Teagarden: "Aida Queensland" - "Aida Brattle" - Aurora's mother; John's wife; Owner of Select Realty; Looks like Lauren Bacall with graying brown hair; Is five-four and elegant to her fingertips; 57 years old
• John Queensland: Roe's stepfather; Aida's husband; Avery & John David's father; A wealthy real-estate-rich man; Has creamy white hair; 64 years old; Former President of the Real Murders Club
• Phil Teagarden: Aurora & Phillip's father; Betty Jo's husband; Aida's ex-husband; Is from Texas; Works for a newspaper; Now lives in California
• Phillip Teagarden: Roe's half-brother; Is in his early teens; Has perpetually tousled light brown hair and startlingly blue eyes; Lives in California
• Madeleine: Roe's gold tabby; Inherited from Jane Engle; Is about 11 years old
• Robin Crusoe: A famous mystery writer; Roe's friend and ex-boyfriend; Celia Shaw's ex-boyfriend; Is six-three with longish bright red hair, a beaky nose and wire-rimmed glasses over his little hazel eyes; Has been living in L.A.; 40 years old
• Celia Shaw: Actress playing the role of Aurora; Robin Crusoe's ex-girlfriend; A short, thin, very young woman with notable cleavage; Has blonde hair and brown eyes; 25 years old
• Marjory Bolton: Magazine writer
• Bubba Sewell: "Cartland Sewell" - Lizanne's husband; Brandon & Davis' father; Has been divorced twice; A state representative and a local lawyer; Has thinning light brown hair and small brown eyes
• Lizanne Buckley: "Elizabeth Anna" - "Lizanne Sewell" - Roe's friend; Bubba's wife; Brandon & Davis' mother; A local beauty; Has shiny chestnut hair and liquid dark eyes; Her parents were killed by the Lawrenceton serial killers
• Brandon Sewell: Bubba & Lizanne's son; Davis' older brother; 18 months old
• Davis Sewell: Bubba & Lizanne's son; Brandon's younger brother; 3 months old
• Angel Youngblood: "Angel Dunn" - Shelby's wife; Joan's mother; Roe's friend and former bodyguard; A stunt-woman; Is five-eleven, muscular and sleek as a cheetah; Has pale blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes; 30 years old; A black belt in karate
• Shelby Youngblood: Martin's friend from Vietnam; Angel's husband; Joan's father; Roe's former bodyguard; A dark-complected man with a heavy, piratical mustache, thick black hair and ropelike arm muscles; Is five-eleven with blue eyes, dusty black, shaggy hair with only a few threads of gray, and his mustache is the kind that frames his mouth; 49 years old; A black belt in karate; Crew leader at Pan-Am Agra
• Joan Youngblood: Shelby & Angel's daughter; Is almost 1 year old
• Catherine Quick: Roe's maid; A heavy older woman; Is in her 60's
• Clement Farmer: Roe & Martin's neighbor; A small, almost bald man with a few wisps of white hair above his ears
• Robert: "Robert E. Lee" - Clement's dog
• Benita: Roe's hairdresser at Clip Casa; Has orange hair
• Perry Allison: Sally's son; Roe's co-worker; Due to overwhelming emotional problems and some substance abuse he put himself in a hospital and then an outpatient home in Atlanta; He is now doing much better; Has brown eyes and dark hair, which he wears in a brush cut on top and rather longer on the sides and back; He is weedy in build and wears aviator-style wire-rim glasses; Is in his 30's
• Sally Allison: Roe's friend; Perry's mother; Steve's ex-wife; Paul's ex-wife; Reporter for the Lawrenceton Sentinel; Is in her 50's; Has permed curly bronze hair and tan eyes; Former Real Murders Club member
• Lillian Schmidt: "Lillian Leighton" - Chad's wife; Has two children; A librarian; Roe's co-worker and frenemy; Is short, squat and coarse-faced; Is self-centered and a member of a fundamentalist Christian church
• Sam Clerrick: Roe's boss; Head Librarian; Marva's husband; Has two daughters
• Patricia Bledsoe: "Patricia the Paragon" - Sam's secretary; Is around 50 years old; Has caramel skin and wears her hair in a short pageboy
• Jerome Bledsoe: Patricia's teenage son; Is in fifth or sixth grade
• Mr. Harmon: Lawrenceton resident
• Linda Shaw: Celia's mother; An actress; Committed suicide
• Chip Brodnax: Actor playing the role of Robin; A tall young man
• Aubrey Scott: Episcopalian priest; Emily's husband; Elizabeth's stepfather; Roe's ex-boyfriend; A widower; Is in his late 30's; Is six-two with dark graying hair, gray eyes and a neat mustache
• Emily Kaye: "Emily Scott" - Aubrey's wife; Elizabeth's mother; A widow; A kindergarten teacher; Is five-four; Wears her honey-colored hair in a pageboy
• Elizabeth Kaye: Emily's daughter; Aubrey's stepdaughter; 10 years old
• Jane Engle: Roe's friendly acquaintance; Left her estate to Roe when she passed away; Was a retired school librarian who used to substitutes at both the school and the public libraries; Former Mortimer House board member; Wore her silver hair in a chignon; Was in her late 70's; Former Secretary of the Real Murders Club
• Cindy Bartell: "C. H. Bartell" - Martin's ex-wife; Barrett's mother; Dennis' fiancée and business partner; Owns Cindy's Flowers; Has dark hair cut in a pixie haircut and large dark eyes; Is in her 40's; Is five-five, lean and wears bifocals
• Dennis Stinson: Cindy's fiancé and business partner; A very large man with a notable set of shoulders; Is six-five with a full mustache and dark hair peppered with gray clipped very short
• Barbara Lampton: "Barby" - Barrett's aunt; Martin's sister; Regina's mother; Hubert's fiancée; Is sleek and dark; Is in her 40's; Is divorced
• Regina Lampton: "Regina Graham" - "Gina" - Barrett's cousin; Martin's niece; Barby's daughter; Hayden's mother; Craig's widow; Attended Kent state; A pretty, dark, plump, young woman; 22 years old
• Amina Day: "Amina Price" - Roe's best friend; Hugh's wife; Megan's mother; A legal secretary; Lives in Dallas; A slender brown-eyed freckle-faced extrovert with bottle blonde hair; Is five-five
• Hugh Price: Amina's husband; Megan's father; A Texas lawyer
• Megan Price: Roe's goddaughter; Amina & Hugh's daughter; 2 years old
• Joe Nell Day: Amina's mother; Owns Great Day dress shop along with Mignon Derby; A very attractive, fair woman; Is in her late 40's
• Mignon Derby: Joe Nell Day's new partner at Great Day; 28 years old
• Nadine Gortner: Lawrenceton resident
• Teal: Works at the Crafts Consortium
• Joel Park Brooks: Director; A tall, gawky man with five earrings on one ear, a shaved head and a black goatee
• Pincus Zelman: "Pinky" - Trinity's husband; Roe's doctor; Is in his early 50's; Has graying hair
• Mark Chesney: Director's Assistant; A sunny man
• Will Weir: Head cameraman; A graying, rough-looking man; His face is almost obscured by a huge graying mustache
• Jessie Bruckner: Producer; A wild-haired burly man dressed all in black
• Bankston Waites: Roe's former neighbor; Melanie's ex-fiancé; Was a loan officer at Associated Second Bank; 33 years old; Has scanty blond hair, a pleasant round face and mild blue eyes; Former Real Murders Club member; One of the Lawrenceton serial killers
• Meredith Askew: An actress
• Smoky: Manager of Heavenly Barbecue; A short man with a thick thatch of curly, light hair; Is built like a tree trunk with heavy, hairy arms
• Carolina Venice: Makeup artist; Angel's friend; Is five-eleven with cornrowed and beaded hair, and multiple piercings
• Tracy: Works for Molly's Moveable Feasts; A stout, auburn-haired young woman with blue eyes
• Molly: Owner of Molly's Moveable Feasts
• Arthur Smith: Roe's ex-boyfriend; Lynn's ex-husband; Lorna's father; Burglary Detective; Is short and solid with coarse curly pale hair and pale blue eyes; 34 years old; Former Real Murders Club member
• Lynn Liggett: Arthur's ex-wife; Lorna's mother; Former Homicide Detective; Works in private security now; A tall woman with straight, short brown hair
• Lorna Smith: Arthur & Lynn's daughter; Is in the first grade
• Sarah Feathers: Sub-Assistant Director
• Susan Crawford: New patrolwoman; Her husband left her for her stepbrother; A small woman with short, dark hair and clear gray eyes
• Janie Finstermeyer: Josh's mother
• Josh Finstermeyer: Janie's son
• Avery Queensland: John's oldest son; John David's brother; Melinda's husband; Marcy & Charles' father; Is tall with brown hair and blue eyes; An accountant; Is very traditional
• Melinda Queensland: Avery's wife; Marcy & Charles' mother
• Marcy Queensland: Avery & Melinda's toddler daughter; Charles' big sister; Has fine brown hair
• Charles Queensland: Avery & Melinda's infant son; Marcy's little brother
• John David Queensland: John's youngest son; Avery's brother; Poppy's husband; Brandon Chase's father; His work requires him to travel a lot; Is tall with brown hair and blue eyes; Was a wild child
• Poppy Queensland: John David's wife; Brandon Chase's mother
• Brandon Chase Queensland: John David & Poppy's newborn son
• Eileen Norris: Aida's second-in-command at Select Realty; Terry Sternholtz's girlfriend; A dark-haired big woman; Is in her early 50's
• Carl Sonnheim: A mystery writer
• David Martinez: Laurie's husband
• Laurie Martinez: David's wife
• Debbie: Roe's childhood friend; Father was an architect
• The Cohens: A retired couple with grandchildren
• The Herman Sisters: They are in their 40's; Both widows
• Joanne Chenney: 1960's radical & suspected bomb maker
• Ralph "Coco" Defarge: 1960's radical & suspected bomb maker
• Anita Defarge: 1960's radical & suspected bomb maker
• Maxwell Brand: 1960's radical & suspected bomb maker
• Barbara "Africa" Palley: 1960's radical & suspected bomb maker
• Patty Cloud: Realtor & partner at Select Realty; Is about 30 years old; Has been divorced twice
• Davis Coffey: New Sheriff; A politically savvy African-American; Is six feet tall and massive
• Padgett Lanier: Former Sheriff; Is sharp-nosed, tall, with thinning blond hair and nearly invisible eyelashes and eyebrows; Has a paunch and a mouth that is too small for his face
• Jimmy Henske: Deputy; Faron's nephew; 26 years old; Is tall, thin and reddish with a high-bridged nose and big hands and feet
• Levon Suit: Deputy; 37 years old
• Lindsey Russell: New Children's librarian; A very young woman

Quotes edit see section history

• “Is that big man with Aunt Roe a giant?”

  Marcy Queensland

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• A life unexamined is not a life lived,

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• Grief was boring. This was a shallow thought about a deep subject, but it was a valid observation. When my loss had been fresh, passing every hour had been like hiking through a rocky terrain with a monster hiding behind every other boulder.

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• I’d been too exhausted to even open my eyes and look around me. I had routinely forgotten whole conversations, complete transactions, significant events. Nothing had seemed important but my loss.

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• Right now, just at this split second, I fully comprehended for a fact that my life would go on and there would be things in it I would enjoy.

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• “Martin—yes, while he was here he truly loved you—but Martin has passed beyond those emotions that plague living people—jealousy, possessiveness, selfishness. He’s not here, he doesn’t worry about worldly things any more, and he should not affect your decisions.”

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• I didn’t realize how long a dark cloud had hung around me until it began to lift.

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• It was difficult to believe that my whole balloon of happiness had been inflated by the simple fact that I’d given a man an erection.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Lawrenceton, Georgia: a suburb of Atlanta
• Lawrenceton Public Library
• Hollywood, California
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Los Angeles, California
• The Julius House
• Wilmington, North Carolina
• St. Stephen's Episcopal Church: in Lawrenceton
• Cindy's Flowers: in Corinth, Ohio; Owned by Cindy Bartell & Dennis Stinson
• New York
• Orlando, Florida
• Great Day: Women's clothing store in Lawrenceton; Owned by Joe Nell Day & Mignon Derby
• Crafts Consortium: in Lawrenceton
• Spalding County
• Dallas, Texas
• Beef 'N More: Restaurant in Lawrenceton
• Heavenly Barbecue: in Atlanta
• Spalding County Courthouse
• England
• Italy
• Savannah, Georgia
• Flower Fantasies: in Lawrenceton
• Canada
• Colorado
• Lawrenceton Hospital
• SPACOLEC: "Spalding County Law Enforcement Complex" - Police station / small claims court / county sheriff's office / jail

Organizations edit see section history

• Select Realty: Aida's realty business
• Pan-Am Agra: An agricultural company; Lawrenceton's largest employer
• Lawrenceton Sentinel: Add a description of this organization.
• Molly's Moveable Feasts
• Lawrenceton City Council
• Russell & Dietrich: Real Estate office that deals mostly in farms
• Trixie's Pizza: in Lawrenceton

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Whimsical Murder: The book written by Robin Crusoe about two serial killers in Lawrenceton. It is now being made into a small screen two-part miniseries.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by A Fool and His Honey, and followed by Poppy Done to Death.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Charlaine Harris (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: CPB Box no. 2229 vol. 2
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Authors, A-Z › ( H ) › Harris, Charlaine
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery › Women Sleuths
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Charlaine Harris website: The Aurora Teagarden series page

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history