TheAurora Teagarden Mysteriesfrom Hallmark encompass 19moviesall covering the adventures of the titular librarian/private eye and to watch the series in order means starting in 2015. Author Charlaine Harris, best known for herSookie Stackhouseseries which was eventuallyturned intoTrue Bloodby HBO, wrote another long and popular franchise, theAurora Teagardenseries. The books began withReal Murdersin 1990 which was followed by 10 more novels, the last coming in 2017,Sleep Like a Baby.Hallmark adapted the second book in the series in April 2015,A Bone to Pick.
Since then, 18 more movies have come out, with all but one starring Candace Cameron Bure as Aurora Teagarden. Aurora “Roe” is a librarian in the sleepy town of Lawrenceton, Washington, where she runs the Real Murders Club, agroup of true crime loverswho meet every month to study up on the famous crimes from the history of their town.Her investigations often lead Aurora to uncover real crimesin her own backyard for the intrepid librarian to solve. WithAurora Teagarden’s cast of likable charactersand cozy atmosphere, there’s plenty to love in the movies.
2015
2016
2017
2018
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Game of Cat and Mouse
2019
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Heist and Seek
2020
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly
2021
2022
2023
A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery
Cast
A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015) follows librarian and amateur sleuth Aurora Teagarden as she inherits a house from a deceased friend and discovers a hidden skull, leading her to unravel a complex mystery.
Aurora Teagarden Mystery: A Bone to Pickisan adaptation of Harris' second book.The movie introduces Aurora and shows how she got to Lawrenceton, Washington. When Aurora inherits a large estate from a former member of the disbanded Real Murders Club, she also receives gifts of money and jewelry, as well as a skull hidden in the home. Unsure of whether the old woman committed murder or has tasked Aurora with clearing her name, Aurora sets out to find the truth.
As the first film in the series,A Bone to Pickis responsible for a lot of exposition and world-buildingas the cozyHallmark movie series takes off. Right away it’s obvious that Bure is an excellent choice for the character, portraying her cheeriness and unflappable attitude well. It’s a bit smaller in scope than the films that would come after it but has plenty of charm and leaves the audience wanting more once it’s over.
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Based on the first book in the series,Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mysterysees local crime aficionados coming together at Aurora’s library for her first meeting of the Real Murders Club. However, when one member of the Club turns up dead, murdered in just the same manner as the crime set to be explored that night,Aurora must use all her sleuthing skills to clear her name and stop any more murders from happening.
There have been a few changes between the first and second films in theAurora Teagardenseries, with new characters introduced and the scope of the series widened by a significant margin.
There have been a few changes between the first and second films in theAurora Teagardenseries, with new characters introduced and the scope of the series widened by a significant margin. It also is the first sign thatAurora Teagardenmovies are not afraid to get a little more violent than other Hallmark fare.
InThree Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery,based on the third novel in Harris' series, Aurora tries her hand at real estate. While showing off houses, she finds a body, then another one, then she realizes that there may be a killer on the loose. Aurora recruits two Real Murder Club members, John Queensland (Bruce Dawson) and Perry Dell (Scott Lyster), to help her crack the case and find out which of her real estate coworkers is behind the killings.
This is the first introduction of Martin Bartell (Yannick Bisson), an on-again, off-again romantic partner for Aurorawho lasts through the next couple of movies. It’s an intriguing mystery that has some suspenseful moments in the second act where art theft comes into play, offering a new flavor to the story.
The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery
The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery follows amateur sleuth Aurora Teagarden as she buys her dream home, only to uncover the unsettling history of the previous owners who vanished mysteriously. The film stars Candace Cameron Bure as Teagarden, exploring the enigmatic past tied to the property.
The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mysteryisbased on the fourth book in the seriesand finds Aurora looking for a new home to buy. She finds what she thinks is the perfect one but learns that it was the site of the disappearance of a family of three. Far from being put off by the information, Aurora uses this as an excuse to investigate the home’s history and find out what really happened to the family.
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The Julius Houseprovides an intriguing mystery and watching Aurora find more and more clues throughout the house almost makes it like an escape room-type movie where the audience cansolve the mystery alongside the characters. Bure’s relationship with her mother, Aida Teagarden (Marilu Henner), is also explored in greater depth in this film, adding a little more backstory to the character.
Adapted from the fifth book in the franchise,Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mysteryfinds Captain Jack Burns (Craig March) murdered at the onset. Despite always having a contentious relationship with the captain, Aurora wants to figure out what happened to him. At the same time,Aurora’s home is broken into and she’s given a mysterious gift.It’s been almost a year of Aurora and Martin being together, and the stress of what to do about their relationship threatens to become an issue.
While the mystery in the fifth film isn’t quite as tightly put together as in the previous movies, the relationship moments between characters make up for it.Aurora and Martin’s relationship finally develops in a significant wayand her interest in setting up a friend, Sally (Lexa Doig), with one of Martin’s colleagues helps to make the world seem bigger and more lived in.
A Bundle of Trouble: An Aurora Teagarden Mysteryisthe firstAurora Teagardenmovie to not be adapted from one of Harris' books. The film introduces Regina (Carly McKillip), Martin’s long-lost niece who arrives at Aurora’s doorstep, only to leave her newborn baby and dead husband after she disappears. Aurora and Martin have to carefully balance their relationship as they investigate this delicate and personal mystery.
The sixthAurora Teagardenmovie hews a little too close to a soap opera with some of the more bizarre story choices in this film, likely a result of not having Harris' novel to fall back on. However, the chemistry between Martin and Aurora is as good as ever.A Bundle of Troublealso gives Martin more screentime than previous outings and the actor, Yannick Bisson, takes advantage of it.
Last Scene Alive: An Aurora Teagarden Mysteryisadapted from Harris' eighth book. In the movie, a film crew comes to Lawrenceton to make a feature about a book Aurora’s friend Robin Daniels (Robin Dunne) wrote. The book is based on Aurora’s life with a lead character who is very similar to Aurora herself. Filming doesn’t last long because the actress set to play “Aurora” turns up dead, and it’s up to the real Aurora to find out who in the crew is responsible.
It’s the lastAurora Teagardenmovie to feature Martin and this seventh film marks the end of an era.
Martin becomes concerned about the disappearance of his old CIA partner, and at the end of the film, decides to leave Lawrenceton and Aurora for South America, the last place his partner was sighted. It’s the lastAurora Teagardenmovie to feature Martin and this seventh film marks the end of an era.
Reap What You Sew: An Aurora Teagarden Mysteryisa return to classicAurora Teagardenmystery storytellingwithout too much in the way of romantic subplots. Aurora’s old family friend Poppy (Jordana Largy) comes to Lawrenceton to showcase her online money-making business. However, she’s soon found murdered and the list of people who would want to kill off the successful, but antagonistic, entrepreneur is very long.
With Martin out of the picture,Aurora and the movie can focus solely on the crime at hand. This is one of the first films in a while that sees Aurora getting to solve a case without any relationship distractions to slow down the crime-solving. It’s a welcome change of pace in the series and feels like the olderAurora Teagardenfilms than it does those newer ones, which are often bogged down with too many emotional beats.
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: The Disappearing Gameintroduces Aurora’s cousin, Phillip (Dylan Sloan), who, along with his roommate, disappears after the roommate’s girlfriend’s mysterious death. Aurora enlists the help of some of her friends as well as a college professor, Nick Miller (Niall Matter), who has recently moved across the street and with whom Aurora is instantly smitten.
This film fleshes out more of Aurora’s family, introducing her cousin Phillip to the gang. More importantly, it introduced Niall Matter as Nick Miller, Aurora’s new love interest.Nick will go on to be a more significant romantic partner for Aurora than even Martin Bartell, and it’s clear why in this film, with how great Matter and Bure’s chemistry is.
