A Bone to Pick

I really enjoyed the first one in this series - the real murder aspect was cool. This one felt a bit flat - especially since I've seen the movie. The movie seemed to have a lot more investigating and back and forth and progress - the book she thought about it briefly and the culprit fell into her lap. There was no actual sleuthing involved to get to that point. Which seemed odd. Still I kind of like Aurora, she's quirky.

Another totally competent cozy mystery in the Aurora Teagarden series. The sudden and inexplicable inheritance that includes a cat gave me flashbacks to the "A Cat Who..." series, but that's not entirely a bad thing, and it was nice that the mystery was very much past-tense, just for a change. This books is rather more focused on establishing Roe as an ongoing characters than on solving an actual mystery, and her love life is not nearly as fascinating as it might be (at least to me,) but this was a totally pleasant and painless read.

Aurora Teagarden is as surprised as everyone else when Jane Engle, a former member of the disbanded Real Murders Club, leaves Roe her estate. Especially since Jane has left Roe not only her house but a healthy savings account. But when someone breaks into the house shortly after Roe takes possession, obviously looking for something, Roe goes on a hunt of her own and finds a mystery she didn't really want.

I remain torn on this series. The mysteries themselves are decent for a cozy series but I continue to find Aurora just slightly on the wrong side of unlikable. Also I was a little bummed that Jane resigned her position as a librarian as that was one of the factors that drew me into the series to begin with. I think I'll give this one show more more entry and then make a final call on whether I want to continue. show less

Aurora Teagarden, part time librarian, is barely over the huge wedding-of-the-year event where her mother, a prominent realtor, married a wealthy bank manager when she learns that an old friend and former member of her "Real Murders" club, Jane Engle, has passed away. And as she's leaving the cemetery, Roe learns from Jane's attorney that except for a small bequest to a cousin she never liked, Jane has left her entire estate to Roe. That was quite a surprise, and finding out the amount of the inheritance (a house and over half a million dollars in cash) was an even bigger one, but it's the skull that Roe finds hidden in the window seat in Jane's living room that is a downright shock. Along with a terse note in one of her many real life show more murder books ("I didn't do it."), Roe feels determined to try to figure out who the skull belongs to and why Jane had it in the first place, but she's hesitant to turn everything directly over to the police because she feels she owes it to Jane to keep her name out of the headlines if at all possible.

In this second installment of the series, Ms. Harris has hit her stride. The characters that were introduced in "Real Murders" are fleshed out more fully and Roe has become someone I can identify with. As soon as Roe did the little jig in the privacy of the elevator at the lawyer's office building after she learned of her inheritance, I knew she and I were going to get along just fine. I'm looking forward to more books in this series. show less

This second installment was a pretty quick read, and I enjoyed seeing how threads from the first book of this Aurora Teagarden series showed up in the second. I did feel like this story was more "day-to-day" goings on, and less suspenseful than the first book of the series, Real Murders.

One of the surprises in this book for me was that Aurora "Roe" quit her job at the library. Her job was one factor that interested me in this series. I'll be interested in how Aurora's character develops as the series progresses.

So, I loved the first book in this series, I even gave it 5 stars. However, I just did not enjoy this one that much. It was still a quick read, but I picked this up after watching almost all of the Hallmark versions of these movies. I was a bit disappointed that the Real Murders Club was still disbanded, as one of my favorite parts of the movies was watching them work together to solve the mystery. But that is not the reason I gave this book two stars, at least, not the only reason. I did enjoy how Roe put together that the skull was in the window seat, but that was really the end of the detective work she did.

That being said, as well as the information I divulge below, if you enjoy the romance with a bit of a mystery thrown in, but not show more the entire plot being a mystery with a bit of romance thrown in, then this book is for you. Otherwise, don't pick this up.

I don't normally give spoilers in my reviews, but I feel like it is necessary in order to justify why I am giving this book such a low rating. So, you have been warned, spoilers follow. I thought that Roe would be the daring person she was in the movies, trying to solve the mysteries. I understand that books and movies are seldom the same, but the stark difference frustrated me. This book was not a mystery. This book was a romance story that just so happened to have a mysterious element in it. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the love story between Roe and the pastor, but I picked this up wanting a murder mystery.

Also, I felt like the ending happened so quickly that I was hit in the face. I understand why Roe called in Arthur, and I thought it was interesting that it was Lynn who answered the phone. However, and I may be remembering this wrong, but the way Lynn gave birth, and Roe was able to help deliver the baby and get the murderer to confess and Lynn didn't even scream, just seemed to me like too easy. show less

I know Aurora Teagarden from the PBS show and not from the books. I do love re-visiting these mysteries I know so well, even if I think the books suffer from feeling dated and judgey. The constant gossiping about who's had a *clutches pearls* divorce was a little silly now but I, of course, 1992 this was in line. The lack of cell phones, the juggling of the answering machine and a landline were a fun thing to visit. The audiobook had a good narrator. I'll definitely keep going with the series.