Monday, December 26, 2016

Movie Review: The Julius House - An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Great mystery, lots of fun
Cons: Usual Hallmark cheese
The Bottom Line:
Roe finds her dream home
Filled with mystery, of course
Movie has clues, fun

“Aurora Teagarden Not Interested in a Mystery?  Do You Have the Flu?”

Aren’t you glad you aren’t an ameautur sleuth?  Even something as exciting as finding your dream home can lead to a mystery and danger.  Yes, that’s the set up for The Julius House, the fourth Aurora Teagarden Mystery movie, and the mystery is a very good one.

With some money that Aurora “Roe” Teagarden (Candice Cameron Bure) has inherited, she is hoping to buy her dream home.  The only problem is, she hasn’t quite found it yet.  Each month, she and her mother (Merrilu Henner) head out to look at the new properties.  This time, they hit the jackpot when Roe falls in love with a house a little ways out of town.  She makes an offer and then remembers why the house looks familiar to her.  Four years ago, the Julius family vanished from the house and were never seen again.

At first, Roe isn’t too interested in the history of the house, but while renovating it, she begins to find clues that intrigue her.  As she keeps exploring, she finds evidence that the story from all those years ago is full of holes.  Can she piece together what a happened back then?  What will it mean for the present?

The way this mystery unfolded was surprising, clever, and fun.  I was intrigued almost from the very beginning, wanting to know what exactly had happened in the past and how Roe would figure it out.  She was rather stupid at the end, but that was my only issue with the climax and resolution.

Those who want an update on her love life will be glad to know that Martin (Yannick Bisson) is still in the picture.  In fact, as the movie opens, they are just 21 dates into the required 25 before Roe’s mom will officially consider them a couple.  Their relationship is completely charming, and I love it.  I know it is going different from the books (something I just know based on book jacket descriptions since I’ve never read the series), so I am curious where they will go with it in future movies.

Yes, this does come with the usual Hallmark cheese in both the writing and acting.  I’ve become very accustomed to it, however, and I’m only noticing it in passing, in fact.  I’m actually really starting to look forward to these movies for the light, fun mysteries they are.

Which is exactly what The Julius House is.  It will entertain you for an hour and a half, and that’s all it needs to be to be perfectly fun.

This movie is part of the Aurora Teagarden Movie Collection.

6 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite books in the Teagarden series so I'm really looking forward to the movie. Did you see that there is going to be a movie series based on the Kate Carlisle Home Renovation mysteries? Can't wait!

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    1. I'm really going to have to read the books at some point.

      I'm really looking forward to the new series that Hallmark is starting next month based on Kate Carlisle's books. Once again, I haven't read them, however.

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  2. Something didn't make sense to me: Just when was the mysterious dormer on the roof that the family was found in supposed to have been built? If the original builders of the home didn't build it then how did it get built so quickly in half a day when the family was killed?

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    1. I thought the implication was that it had been added earlier. It would have made more sense if there were 4 dormers on the outside of symmetry and Aurora noticed only 3 could be accessed from inside, setting up her investigating the false dormer.

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    2. 3 bodies left in a doormor, seriously. I would think, would of left ALOT of blood & the stench, but the investigators missed it. I've never heard of ANY murderer lugging ANY bodies on top of a roof, where they could've been SEEN by ANYONE & hidding them in a dormor. I guess, there's a first time for everything.

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  3. If the grandmother was an imposter, then wouldn't the sale of the house to Roe be null and void?

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