Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Given the current climate in this country - unrest, frustration, unhappiness, bad news every time you turn around, Hallmark has come into its own.

After years of being a sweetness and light network of small-town family values and chaste romance, it's in vogue. People want to watch attractive stars they know from soap operas or prime time comedies in light romances and mysteries with happy endings and no bad language.

Though it's obviously geared toward fundamentalist religious parts of the country - you can tell by the Bible and holy water ads - lots of people who fall outside this group are now addicted to Hallmark, people you'd never expect. And who can blame them?

Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery is from 2017, and it's an episode of the mystery series that stars pert Candace Cameron Bure. She plays a librarian and amateur sleuth.

Aurora has a chaste relationship with her boyfriend (Yannick Bisson), and in some of the episodes, lives with her real estate broker mother (Marilu Henner). Aurora runs a mystery club that discusses old unsolved murder cases.

In this particular episode, the police chief falls from a plane - dead - into Aurora's yard.

The stories are okay and inoffensive, the wide-eyed Bure is cute and familiar to audiences who saw her on "Full House."

The only problem I have is with the look of the show - all the women have long hair and sometimes can be hard to tell apart if you don't know the actresses very well. I'm not sure if this is because producers think that people have no sense of style in certain parts of the country or what.

Anyway, enjoyable.

Aurora (Bure) is having plumbing problems and with the help of her friend, Sally (Doig) they set about fixing it. While checking out the well's pump in the garden, the body of Chief Of Police, Captain Burns (March), falls from an aeroplane... at their feet. Being the compulsively curious amateur sleuth she is, Aurora sets out to track down the cop killer...

Storywise, this isn't as solid as previous instalments of the enthusiast crime solver. In a few scenes, it feels especially contrived. Specifically where the two sisters are concerned. The reaction of Bess Burns' (Cairns) reaction to her husband's death is kind of unbelievable. She doesn't appear to mourn him and at times even sees a bright side to his death. Then there's her sister, Lillian Tibbit (Harvie), who has an episode where she's the complete opposite of her normal personality, This would have been okay had Bess been more realistic. But to have two strange personalities in one story is one too much. This does pull the audiences attention away and out of the story and film.

This though is pretty much the only downside to the movie. The rest of the story is strong and sound. Filled with red herrings and false suspects. Though it shouldn't be too hard for you figure out whodunnit... though you may find yourself changing your mind a couple of times.

There's nothing too interesting in the direction, it's pretty standard stuff. Also, the special effect of the falling body looks cheap and nasty. Luckily it's at the start of the film and over in a couple of seconds.

It's the acting along with the story that will keep the attention of the audience. Just like the previous episodes, the acting is above average and nobody stands out more than anyone else. Everybody has the limelight, allowing the story to take precedence and helps to extend the mystery (there's nothing worse than having some actor or actress walk on screen and you know they're the bad guy or gal).

If you're a fan of the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries you will like this chapter of her life. You needn't have watched the previous episodes to enjoy this film, though you would probably get more enjoyment if you had.

Martin is away on a business trip when the police chief Captain Burns approaches Aurora telling her he needs to speak to Martin as soon as he gets home. The next day Aurora is trying to fix a leaky outdoor faucet with Sally when a small plane flies overhead and dumps Captain Burns' dead body in front of them.

Meanwhile Martin and Ro introduce Sally to one of Martin's old CIA colleagues, Tim Prentiss. The two actually hit it off, joining Ro and Martin for dinners out and attending the True Crime meetings together.

Arthur gets named as the new police chief and then ends up stabbed at Chief Burns' memorial. Martin is being framed for murder...and the True Crimes club is on the case!

Martin and Ro's romance is heating up, in spite Aida planting the seed that Aurora is afraid of commitment. Aurora finds a ring box in Martin's pocket...which has her behaving a little uncharacteristically and she seems to have a secret admirer...oh! And Martin is allergic to cats.

The best part of this series is the large but tight supporting cast. The writing and romance development is wonderful. I love that they continue to use the same actors for all of the supporting characters. I love Candace Cameron Bure and she together with Yannick Bisson have wonderful chemistry. This is the third in the series with Martin. I love the relationships between family, friends and colleagues. I wish there were more mysteries on Hallmark like this.

"I should spend more time in book stores."-Martin.

In the last Aurora Teagarden Mystery our librarian sleuth bought a house that turned out to be a cold case crime scene which of course she solved. In this one Candace Cameron Bure first gets a heads up kind of visit from a police captain whom she's never been on friendly terms with. He was looking for Yannick Bisson formerly of the CIA and Aurora's steady. The next day he drops in on Cameron or rather his cadaver is thrown from a plane and lands in her front yard.

Now she's really part of the crime itself and our librarian with the aid of her sidekick Lexa Doig who as a newspaper reporter actually covering the story who can ask needed questions she decides to find out who went out of his way to involve her and more important try to frame Bisson. We learn also just what Bisson did at the CIA and he does have the skills to commit this and other homicides related to this crime.

On a side note Jim Thorburn a detective just returned to the force is trying awful hard to close the case on his own with an unofficial parallel investigation which is aimed at Bisson. You know that Roe Teagarden won't stand for.

The only clue I'll give readers is that this is someone with the skills to kill and the skills to frame.

Fans of the series should be pleased.

A lot of reviewers seem to forget that these mystery movies are Hallmark productions, which probably means low budget. Don't expect a Kate Hepburn performance from the leading lady! Another common complaint is that the movies don't follow the book. Well, duh! How many movies based on books actually follow the book? And they also forget that is based on a 'cozy' mystery, meaning lighthearted (well, lighter than usual) murder mystery.

If you view this movie as a stand alone and don't try to compare it with a book, it's an enjoyable murder mystery without tons of blood and gore. The acting isn't world class, but it isn't intended to be. Remember, it's a Hallmark movie, not a mega bucks production. If you do that you may surprise yourself and actually enjoy it.