The Novel Murders

When an old man comes into her store and buys something too large to carry home on the bus, Jennifer (Lori Loughlin)agrees to deliver it for him. But when she gets to the man's apartment she finds him dead and before she can call the paramedics they arrive. Whilst Detective Lynwood (Kevin O'Grady) initially suspects a heart attack the autopsy shows something suspicious involving nicotine poisoning, it reminds Jennifer of something she once read in a book, an Agatha Christie novel. The next murder that occurs is based on A study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, and third murder is from The Spiral Staircase By Mary Roberts Rhinehart.

The subplots: unlucky in love Danielle (Sarah Strange)has become intrigued by Maggie (Fiona Vroom), a clairvoyant, who seems to be spot on with what she knows about her whilst Jennifer's son, Logan (Connor Stanhope), wants to go camping with his father, Jason (Steve Bacic).

Excellent entry to a terrific series- the idea of a killer using murder methods from mystery novels is inspiring and the plot has plenty of hooks and it's quite compelling. Halfway in I knew who the killer was, and even the misdirection failed to sway me, but it's so absorbing, fun and fast-paced that it didn't matter. The subplot doesn't come in the way.

I enjoyed this one the least so far. And this is coming from a bookworm! The entire plot was far too predictable, and the ending downright silly.

The Garage Sale Mystery Movies characters are loosely based on a trilogy written by Suzi Weinert. She wrote the first book at age 72 and had it published at age 75. The third book was published when she turned 80.

Lori Loughlin starred in the first Garage Sale Mystery Movie in 2013. As of August 2017, eleven movies have aired.

The Novel Murders is the sixth entry in the series. As an antiques dealer/sleuth Jennifer Shannon is inquisitive but not pushy or intrusive. She has a good relationship with the police and the love and support of family and friends.

We have seen this plot before in Castle TV Series: Flowers for your Grave (murders were copied from his books); and Hallmark's Aurora Teagarden Mystery: The Real Murders (the Real Murder Club members were murdered - copied from true crime books.)

In The Novel Murders, the murders are taken from famous classic mysteries. This is probably my favorite Garage Sale Mystery.

The Garage Sale Mystery Movies are really great cozy mysteries that the entire family can enjoy. I highly recommend all of them.

Only the most peripheral connections to Lori Loughlin's antiquing business are involved in this Garage Sale Mystery. She delivers an item that this most reclusive man bought at her store and finds him dead.

Possibly this film should have been part of the librarian Aurora Teagarden series given her connections and book knowledge. But Loughlin recognizes the method as belonging to an Agatha Christie story. A clue left point to another man, than he's murdered by a method that Arthur Conan Doyle used in one of his Sherlock Holmes stories.

Go to a Holmes aficionado and he's later murdered with a method used in a Mary Roberts Rhinehart novel. Takes a while a Loughlin solves it, but she nearly becomes a fourth victim. If she hadn't who knows how many this killer might have racked up?

Two side plots not normal in a Hallmark mystery are in this one. One involves husband Steve Bacic and son Connor Stanhope trying a little father&son camping for bonding. The second is Loughlin's BFF Sarah Strange exposing a bunco racket involving a fortune teller.

Nice, but really should have been a Teagarden story.

7.3 stars.

Almost as good as the previous one, but lacking only in the area of how I felt once it was over. I think the story itself is more elaborate and the characters are much more interesting, but something about the presentation, maybe the timing and even some of the acting was more mundane. There are so many nuances to these mystery series on Hallmark, they are all so similar. Once in a while there is a standout amongst the crowd. 'Mystery 101' for example, almost every episode is extremely entertaining and almost riveting. 'Garage Sale' is more akin to an older style of mystery show, not as engaging, more lighthearted and less serious. The mystery went off without a hitch, although I think we all knew who the antagonist was, we just didn't want to admit it to ourselves...