Movie Review: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse - An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great mystery

Cons: Hallmark production

The Bottom Line:

Corpse at house for sale

Who would kill the realtor?

Follow as Roe solves

Sorry, the Body is Not Included with the House

This probably goes without saying, but I’ve really gotten hooked on the Hallmark mystery movies.  I’ve watched and reviewed how many of them since the start of the year?  So I was anxious to visit with Aurora Teagarden again when Three Bedrooms, One Corpse premiered.  This is another fun mystery.

Aurora “Roe” Teagarden (Candace Cameron Bure) is a librarian, but when her mother Aida (Marilu Henner) is running late for a showing, Roe agrees to let in the client and start the tour.  After all, the home for sale is one that Roe’s childhood friend lived in, so she is familiar with the property.  In fact, Roe is so familiar with the house that something seems off to her about the living room, but she can’t quite put her finger on what it is.

Something is definitely off in the backyard, however.  When Roe and Martin Bartell (Yannick Bisson), the client, wander back there, they find the body of the last realtor to show the property.  Since Aida keeps the keys in a drawer in her office, the police quickly begin to look at Aida and her co-workers as suspects.  Yes, the victim was from another firm, but the competition wasn’t that deadly, was it?  But Roe’s biggest concern is that Aida might be next.

The mystery in this movie is very strong.  There are some great clues that set Roe on the right path.  There are no shortage of suspects, but when the killer is revealed at the end, everything makes perfect sense.  I would expect nothing less since the movie is based on a novel by Charlene Harris.

The one thing that the movie could do better is character.  There is so much story to get in that the characters are a little short changed.  We know them well enough to care about the outcome, but I’m sure they are all richer in the book.  It’s a minor complaint, however.

If you’ve been reading my review of these movies, you know what comes next – my disclaimer about the Hallmark cheese.  The actors do a decent job, but there is something about the entire production that screams Hallmark.  But I get so involved in the plot that I really don’t care.

While I haven’t read these books, I have read plot descriptions, so I know a bit about how Roe’s live evolves over the course of the series.  As a result, I found the introduction of Martin Bartell quite interesting.  I know the next movie has been filmed, and I’m very curious to know if it will follow the path their relationships take in the books or not.  And that’s all I’m saying, I promise.

And that’s truly the secret of these movies.  They are fun, and fans of light, cozy mysteries will absolutely fall under their spell.

So I definitely recommend Three Bedrooms, One Corpse to mystery fans.  They will find it an enjoyable film in their favorite genre.

This movie is part of the volume 1 Aurora Teagarden Mystery DVD collection.