Originator1994 Obnoxious, annoying is true for this one and the series. Way beyond not believable . Cannot imagine the towns people being this immature but its fiction . Wish the author would work with the characters and bring up to a level of maturity and level-headedness . Hard to believe this berg is as backwards as it seems but then again, it's only fiction. As the series progresses, they get more annoying , especially Auroras . We all know Candice is more mature that this or is she ? Having seen her a few times on a talk show have my doubts. She is still a little girl in little girl clothing with little girl lines

bkoganbing The second Aurora Teagarden mystery came a cropper when our perky librarian with a taste for murder mysteries is nearly done in herself by someone jealous of her expertise. I kid you not that is the motive for the murders here.As in the first Aurora Teagarden film, Candace Cameron Bure in the title role hosts a murder mystery discussion group after hours. She's even got a professional mystery writer in Robin Dunne staying with her and mother Mailu Henner. Then someone starts bumping off club members in the same manner of some famous cases. I think the whole idea is silly and the film veered almost toward satire. But believe me it's well clear.

kira02bit I am actually a fairly big fan of cozy murder mystery books series, so I am certainly not against the Hallmark Channel adapting them for TV. However, one would assume that they would make certain that the series in question is a good fit for the channel. The Flower Shop Mysteries (with Brooke Shields) and the Bake Shop Mysteries (with Alison Sweeney) are a fairly good fit. Hallmark's modus operandi seems to be taking a fairly innocuous book series with a hopefully built in audience, hiring a familiar actress of a certain age who can play cute with some familiar veterans in the supporting cast, and usually pairing said actress opposite a blandly handsome borderline asexual love interest (the Flower Shop mysteries Brennan Elliot is actually an exception here in that he seems to have a pulse and sex appeal) in the quest to find out whodunnit.By contrast, Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden mysteries are most definitely a questionable fit for Hallmark. Centering on a likable heroine with a morbid hobby of researching and sometimes getting embroiled in real life murders, the series is often ghoulish with its violence, motives and supporting characters. The first in the book series focuses on very gruesome murder perpetrated on members of a Real Murders research group. When watching the TV version, red flags that this series will be an adaptation failure crop up almost immediately. First, gruesome murders that happen to likable characters in the book are prevented in the film to give it that homey feel that Hallmark loves. Second, Aurora's family background is changed around to give her a much more traditional family presentation to make her more cuddly to Hallmark viewers.Last, but certainly not least, is the complete misfire in casting. Aurora's mother is supposed to be a society doyenne realtor and force to be reckoned with. The books likens her to Lauren Bacall, the film series gives us a distracted Marilu Henner (probably wondering how to wring her agent's neck and get away with it). Robin Dunne is cast as the love interest here, a visiting novelist who is either the killer or a target. Naturally, he shares absolutely no discernible chemistry with the leading lady and has apparently been directed to play everything in such a low wattage fashion so that viewers can be assured that nothing but the most chaste of flirtation is happening.The worst decision is the miscasting of Candace Cameron Bure in the lead. I am completely puzzled as to how anyone in the sublimely talentless Cameron family keeps scoring acting gigs. The Aurora Teagarden of Harris's novels is described as a short, pleasingly plump, bespectacled librarian-type with a lusty sex drive and a borderline unhealthy (but fun) morbid curiosity. There is not one characteristic of this character that comes through in Bure's performance. Physically, she is completely wrong for the role as she bears absolutely no resemblance to Harris's character. Indeed Bure's performance sanitizes pretty much anything that would have given Aurora flavor as a character and replaces it with an over-caffeinated, hyper-cute nonsense performance that seems more like Bure's audition reel for the Full House reboot than anything that demonstrates an actual performance or an attempt to prove she can...well, act at all.Just when you think it cannot get worse, the climax where Aurora outsmarts the villain(s) arrives (which is completely different from the book by the way) and you realize just how utterly clueless and foolish this whole endeavor was from the start. Aurora seems less like a resourceful and brave character, then a childish moron with the IQ of a 12-year-old with ADHD and some highly questionable luck.A complete disaster, even by Hallmark standards, and a total waste of time.

utgard14 Candace Cameron Bure is back as Aurora Teagarden in another Hallmark movie adapted from Charlaine Harris' series of crime novels. I've never read any of the books but I did see the first Aurora Teagarden movie and liked it a lot. The plot to this one has members of Aurora's book club being targeted by a killer who is mimicking famous murders. Aurora investigates (mostly in purple jeans) with a mystery writer newly arrived in town and eager to help.As I said, I liked the last Aurora movie but I wound up liking this one even more. Candace is as lovely and engaging as ever. I was happy to see the cast of supporting players from the first movie has returned here, most notably the delightful Lexa Doig as Aurora's best friend. In this movie she doesn't get to play sidekick, though, as that role is taken by Robin Dunne. She does get plenty of enjoyable scenes, including one particularly amusing one with her parents. For his part as investigative sidekick and potential love interest, Robin Dunne is charming and fun. I was pleasantly surprised by this as the last time I saw him in a TV movie he was remarkably wooden and seemed bored by the whole thing. Here he steals the show and has a playful chemistry with Candace that I enjoyed a lot. He's a vast improvement over the forgettable minister love interest from the first movie. Again, I'm not familiar with the books but I hope if there are more of these movies made that his character is a part of them.On the negative side, the movie is darker in spots than it probably needed to be. It's hard to do a story where your lead character's friends are being murdered while still keeping things light and frothy. The movie doesn't always maintain that balance well, especially in the first half. There are also some issues with the sound quality at points, such as the grocery store scene where it appears dialogue may have been dubbed for whatever reason. Not a big thing but it is a tad distracting. Another nitpick would be the gruff police captain who is nothing more than an irritating cliché. He exists just to show up and yell about Aurora's meddling. Finally, the solution to the murders is a little too similar to the first movie.The complaints I have are minor, ultimately. For a made-for-TV movie, it's well done and very entertaining. It keeps your interest throughout with good characters and a decent murder mystery. If you liked the first one, I'm sure you will love this one. If you didn't like the first one, I doubt this will win you over. Candace fans will, of course, find lots to enjoy here.