Aurora's Mystery House
Life is moving on for attractive librarian Aurora Teagarden (Candace Cameron Bure - Switched for Christmas) as she is dating the handsome Martin (Yannick Bisson - Crazy for Christma) and also looking to spend some of the money she came into on finding a home. And despite her mum, Aida's (Marilu Henner - Hitched for the Holidays), reluctance she shows Aurora the Julius house, the location of a mystery as just a couple of years earlier the Julius family who lived there disappeared when one night they went for dinner with a friend and were never to be seen again. With Aurora buying the Julius house her journalist friend gets to do a follow up on the mystery and as Aurora looks into things the more involved she becomes.
It is official, I have pretty much had enough of these Hallmark murder mystery franchises and it was "The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery" which confirmed it for me. Now take the Aurora Teagarden mystery franchise, the first few movies were entertaining as we got to know Aurora, her friends and relationships as well as the town she lives in. But as I watched "The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery" it felt like everything which could be established had been and now this movie needed to rely on the strength of the mystery to keep you entertained.
Unfortunately the set up of Aurora buying a home which just happens to have a mystery attached is too far fetched. And then the way she comes across new evidence and so on ends up all too contrived and coincidental. Of course there were these sorts of coincidences in the earlier Aurora Teagarden Mystery movies but without the getting to know Aurora side of things the contrivances and coincidences stick out too much. And unfortunately the actual mystery is not gripping enough to draw you in and keep you entertained.
What this all really means is that "The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery" relies even more so than ever on the likeable nature of its cast and thankfully this is where it doesn't disappoint. Candace Cameron Bure and Marilu Henner are as likeable and entertaining as ever as Aurora and Aida whilst Yannick Bisson works well as a romantic interest for Aurora.
What this all boils down to is that for me "The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery" was okay, it was an entertaining time filler but unlike the earlier Aurora Teagarden Mystery movies in this series it doesn't have the same appeal due to it now all being about the mystery and less about Aurora and the world she lives in.
Tags: TV Mystery Movie Crime Solvers
