There used to be a series of movies on the Hallmark Channel called Mystery Woman about a female bookstore owner who had a passion for mystery novels, a habit of stumbling over dead bodies, and a talent for solving mysteries. I always wished that the movies were based on a book because that is a book I would read. Alas, there is no Mystery Woman book series that I've been able to find, but I found something close: the Aurora Teagrarden series by Charlaine Harris. This weekend Hallmark is premiering a new mystery movie called A Bone to Pick based on the second book of the series. Because I prefer to start a series at the beginning I picked up a copy of Real Murders, the first Aurora Teagarden book.Aurora Teagarden is a librarian in a small Georgia town. She is also a member of a club called Real Murders, a group of true crime aficionados who like to research and discuss famous solved and unsolved cases. As their monthly meeting is about to start, Aurora realizes that one of their members has gone missing. Aurora goes looking for her and discovers her first dead body. Not only has one of the club's members been murdered, the circumstances of the death are similar to the case the club was planning to discuss that very evening. Aurora doesn't want to believe it but she suspects that the murderer is one of her fellow club members.Charlaine Harris, the author of Real Murders, has written multiple series including the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series, which I enjoyed very much, and Harper Connelly series, which I enjoyed less. (To be fair I only read one Harper Connelly book.) So far, the Aurora Teagarden series falls in between Sookie and Harper. Aurora reminds me a bit of Sookie in that she's another small town southern girl thrown into the deep end and finding she can swim pretty well. Unfortunately the characters and the setting in the Teagarden series aren't quite as fleshed out as the Sookie series. Bon Temps and its inhabitants felt like a real place, Aurora and Lawrenceton, Georgia not so much. Still this was worth a read. The mystery was an interesting one and just when I thought I had it all figured out it turned out I got it all wrong.If you like cozy mysteries this one is worth the try. I am looking forward both to reading the next book in the series and watching the Hallmark version. There is a place in my heart for smart, often single women like Miss Marple, Cordelia Gray, and Samantha Kinsey who have a talent for solving murders. Aurora Teagarden might soon find herself added to that list.
I decided to read this on a plane trip because it seemed easy to read and get into without having to think too hard, which is good because I get sleepy on planes. I don't often read mysteries but I'm determined to read everything Harris writes. I like her other two mystery protagonists, Lily Bard and Harper Connelly, but I have to say I like Aurora Teagarden the least. Aurora is pretty plain and boring, even without her being a librarian. She lives alone and doesn't even have a pet. She's 28 and wears jean skirts, blouses with flowers on them, and heels with bows on the back. Yikes. Clothing choices aside, I didn't really connect with Aurora. She has almost no personality and you never really get inside her head. Pretty much the only thing she's good at is butting in where she doesn't belong. I found this happened a lot with Lily Bard too so maybe this is something that's normal for a mystery series; I guess you have to give the character a reason for being in the book. With Harper, it makes sense that she's involved in a murder mystery. A librarian or a housekeeper? Not so much.Even with all that, I still enjoyed the story. I liked that you weren't given that many clues and I was guessing until the end about the murderer. There were three people that I considered, but I was way off! The novel could have used some beefing up though, and the reason that it was such a quick read came from the fact that there was little to no character development or description of many of the surroundings. I'm hoping the rest of the books in this series improve on this greatly.It sounds like I'm really ragging on this book but I did enjoy it. It definitely has it's shortcomings but I see some promising things that could be developed and I'll continue reading this series.
What do You think about Real Murders (1990)?
I expected this book to be so much better than it was. I think I should've given it 2.5 stars. It was just ok. Aurora is no Lily Bard. She is a member of a club that reviews real murders(hence the title). Someone in their town is going around and committing murders that they have reviewed. The killer kills a member of the club, while implicating other members of the club by using something that belonged to the member as a murder weapon. I had my suspicions about one of the members, but turns out it was not that member. The identity of the killer was definitely a shocker. I will try the 2nd book in this series just because I love Harris as an author.
—Nikinnia Smith garcia
I'm commenting on the entire Aurora Teagarden mysteries series in this one review...It is an OK series. The plotlines are entertaining, but the editing, in a word, SUCKS. The names of the characters (last names) get screwed up, the spelling errors are abundant, the prose doesn't flow, and it makes you stutter as you read it. That being said, I did enjoy the series. I read five of the books in one night. Easy read. Good brain dump. Harris' Harper Connolly series is much better and with a lot fewer errors.
—a_tiffyfit
Mild-mannered librarian and live-in property manager, Aurora Teagarden has a not-so-secret hobby -- studying famous murders. She belongs to a group of fellow buffs called Real Murders, and it's all lighthearted until one of their group is killed just before a meeting. Horrors! The reality is definitely not as much fun as reading about them, then more acquaintances are being killed and the killings appear to be patterned on murders the group is studying. But things are not so bad since she has two possible beaus -- Arthur a police detective who is also a group member and Robin a new-in-town mystery writer who also happens to be her next door neighbor.Cute!
—Anna
