Un crime en héritage

I'd hated Murder She Bakes and loved good Witch so I gave this a chance and i'm pleasantly surprised. Candace Bure does a good job of portraying Aurora as an inquisitive and clever person, who an get dangerously close to being nosey and interfering but just stays on the tolerable side of it. You can actually believe that beneath her turning up all over is actual concern for her friends and neighbours. The character is quite well rounded and not a bad influence on TV- she's smart, dedicated to her work, decisive and organised. Mother Aida is stereotypically the small town mom who can only think of setting her daughter up, but the actress does very well. Aurora's love interests do not merit mention, but John is someone who deserves far more screen time. The mystery is too simple but somehow the small town intrigues and Aurora's process save it from being a bore. If you want a simple unwinding with some cuteness and not much brain use, don't miss it.

Librarian and amateur sleuth Aurora Teagarden's elderly friend dies and leaves Aurora her house. After a break-in, Aurora starts poking around the old house and discovers the skull of a murder victim. She begins investigating the crime but this puts her at odds with the police, including the detective assigned to the case -- who just happens to be the pregnant wife of Aurora's ex-boyfriend.

This is based on a book from a series written by Charlaine Harris, the author of the books True Blood is based off of. Don't worry (or get your hopes up?), this is nothing like True Blood. Haven't read the books so I can't compare but this is a light, upbeat mystery with some humor and even a hint of (completely sexless) romance with a minister. It's Candace Cameron Bure and Hallmark. You didn't expect Hannibal Lecter to show up, did you? A cop pointing a gun at someone says "get your dang hands in the air." So yeah, I think it's safe to call this 'family friendly.'

Candace is likable and pretty as usual. The rest of the cast is good. Fairly typical for TV movies -- mostly little-known Canadian actors with a couple of recognizable standouts (TV vet Marilu Henner and the lovely Lexa Doig). Henner is enjoyable as the mom meddling in her daughter's love life and Doig is fun as the sidekick who gets most of the good lines. The scenes between Candace and Lexa are the movie's highlights. Altogether it's a fun movie. Nothing challenging but entertaining. I imagine fans of the books will be more critical than those like me who aren't familiar with the source material. If you're a fan of the kinds of movies Candace makes, you'll most likely enjoy this.

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Bone to Pick is the start of a beautiful series of mysteries and one of my three favorite in the Hallmark vault. (My three favorites being Hannah Swensen's Murder she Baked, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, and Mystery 101...a series that just gets better and better.)

Aurora Teagarden is a grossly underpaid librarian for the town of Lawrenceton, which exists somewhere within an hour drive of Seattle, Washington. Aurora's mom, played beautifully by Marilou Henner, is a real estate agent and her best friend, Sally, works as an investigative reporter for the local newspaper. Aurora, nicknamed "Ro", is a member of her town's Real Murders Club where town members sit and discuss unsolved mysteries to the chagrin of both Ro's mother and her co-worker at the library. In addition to her best friend, the Real Murders club has a cast of interesting characters, like Ro's ex-boyfriend turned local police officer Arthur, and at times the town mayor...a former convict, a trust fund baby, and some other helpful characters that at times become both co-conspirators and suspects!

In A Bone To Pick, Aurora connects with a lovely elderly member of The Real Murders Club and former town librarian, Jane Engles, who sees herself in Aurora and loans her a book on a historic murder that Aurora presented to the club. Jane passes away the very next day and unexpectedly leaves Ro her house. When Ro goes to check out the house, it has been broken into and the perpetrator is still there but escapes without being caught. Ro calls Arthur, Ro's ex, who is now married to and pregnant with fellow police officer and detective, Lynne, and coincidentally moving right across the street from Ro's new house... creating all kinds of awkwardness. Arthur tells Ro about the breakins that had been happening in the neighborhood. Aurora starts searching the house to figure out what the thief was looking for. What she finds is a human skull and an ancient mystery...thankfully Jane also leaves a note with a clue to the murder mystery she is passing on. Cue the murder board...

Candace Cameron Burré is beautiful and does a wonderful job as our main character Ro. She plays friend, daughter, librarian, fiancé and an endlessly curious mind wonderfully. She is smart, sassy...and has the right amount of clout with family and friends to get them to help out throughout her adventures.

The town is so picturesque that I had to look up where it was filmed, knowing the beautiful falls that can be seen from right in the heart of downtown does not exist anywhere inside of my native Northwest (unfortunately). The series is shot in Vancouver, B. C. predominately...but the gorgeous falls in the city is in the town of Montour Falls, New York in Schuyler County. Check it out it is truly worth googling...and maybe a road trip.

The start of a wonderful series and for me a great cosy friend based loosely on the cosy mystery series written by True Blood author, Charlaine Harris. For me this is a must see and tv that I can count on each and every episode.

This is a clean mystery with likable characters. But Aurora does make the irresponsible, rather selfish decision to tamper with evidence and try to solve the mystery herself. I don't like it when a civilian just butts in and does the police's job for them. Contrast this with Morning Show Mysteries or Picture Perfect Mysteries, where the civilian protagonist works WITH the police.

Being English, the title of this movie threw me at first... "The Aurora Teagarden" sounds like a place you would go for a nice cuppa cha while sitting in beautiful floral surroundings... But no "Aurora Teagarden" is the name of the leading character - poor girl.

That aside, this is a good way to pass an hour and a half. Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, played nicely by Candace Cameron Bure. is a member of a mystery group dedicated to "Real Murders". One of the members, Jane Eagles (Barbara Wallace), invites Roe round to her house so she can borrow a book on female killers, as this had been her "Real Murder" discussion subject. A few days later she learns of Jane's death and is surprised to find herself in the will as the beneficiary of her house. It's when she finds the hidden human skull that a mystery starts to reveal itself to her... and her friends...

It's hard to say why I enjoyed this film because some things annoyed me, such as Lexa Doig's character, Sally Allison, who is grating on the nerve and at times I wondered why the two were friends, let alone besties. This isn't Doig's fault though as she did a more than an admirable portrayal of a strong, independent, and intelligent woman on Andromeda. But here, she's not such a likable character. Though that may be the strong point of this series as it's not relying on characterisations as much as others do in this genre; they're a little more like everyday people, rather than "feel-good" representations.

Another thing which was annoying was how simple the mystery was, I had pretty much had it solved at the skull, as I would think most would since previous scenes are so heavy handed at giving you the clues. I couldn't really believe that it took Roe so long to figure it out. This is more like a Columbo movie as it's not really about the mystery it's more about the trip to get to the reveal. At least there's still some mystery here, unlike Columbo.

All of the cast give a solid and equal performance and portray their characters well; none outshines any of the others. Director Martin Wood does a nice job of keeping the pace steady throughout, which works well with this type and style of story.

If you like your characters to be more "normal" in your mystery movies then you will like this; if you don't mind about the easy solve mystery because you prefer the drama more then this will really be your cuppa cha'. At least worth one viewing... on a wet and miserable day - English Summertime - when you can't make it out into the Teagarden.