The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Intrepid Aurora Teagarden has just gotten married and is gifted her "dream home" - the title house - which was the site of an eerie family disappearance six years earlier. Naturally, Aurora is intrigued enough to start investigating what really happened to the missing family, while pondering the mysterious behavior of her enigmatic new husband.I usually enjoy Harris' work and I have a special fondness for Aurora Teagarden - enough so that I despise the sanitized Hallmark Channel rendering of her works with the tragically miscast over-caffeinated Candace Cameron Bure at the helm. The first three Aurora books have been quite well done and a lot of fun. So I was surprised to find The Julius House unfocused and plodding, with an underwhelming Aurora. If this is what married life is doing to her, get thee to a divorce attorney. The story seems to take forever to address the central mystery surrounding the house, because Harris keeps taking time-consuming and fairly irrelevant side trips. Too much time is dedicated to Aurora's wedding preparations and the character is a pouty downer this time around. She frets over all of the pre-wedding parties and luncheons she is expected to attend (oh, the poor dear!). She pouts that her fiance is keeping secrets from her and that her acquaintances all seem to have reservations about her husband (get a clue, dear). She frets about the strange couple that her now-husband installs over the garage in their new home. She ponders about finding the perfect wedding gift for her husband, which requires a very lengthy completely unrelated trip to Ohio, where she meets her husband's first wife and snags a desired piece of real estate from his much-loathed stepfather through chicanery. It seems like we are two-thirds into the book before Aurora gets her ducks lined up to investigate the mystery of the Julius House...you know, what the book is named after. And the big reveal is not exactly earth shattering and a bit disappointing.Some of the better characters are underused here - especially Aurora's haughty society matron mother. Aurora, when not fretting, pouting or pondering, basically sits around the house. She has given up her job at the library in light of her inheritance (understandable), but I do not believe many people will be sympathetic towards a person whose goals in life now appear to be planning meals for her man, being sad when he travels on business, and basically wanting to be a dutiful housewife. Can anyone say...BORING! I hope this character snaps out of this rut.Worse, Aurora's dream man/hubby is a complete cipher. We know he is hiding stuff from his past and present, and that he apparently adores Aurora, but he seems strangely devoid of personality or charm. The only definites we know are that he is 45-years-old and a hard body. That is it. He floats in and out of the story, and talk about him or wondering about him takes up an inordinate amount of pages, and the character just does not seem worth this effort.The assistance of the Real Murders Club is definitely needed here. Most of the supporting characters are barely nodded to and Aurora's reacts to them less as friends, then as time-wasters that she must put up with to either glean information or because faux surface Southern manners dictate that she must extend them courtesy, albeit reluctantly. Aurora seems oddly disenchanted with pretty much all of her family and acquaintances herein.I suppose one mediocrity out of four books in the series is excusable, so long as the next book rectifies the problems. Truthfully, I would not be upset to see Aurora's tedious husband Martin given the boot. That would be a good start right there.

Wow, this was amazing..I was not prepared for this story ..nothing like the movie and nothing like reviews I had read. First, Aurora is not letting Martin control her. She does fine on her own! Second..I like how the author has her human, real, yet brave and fiesty. Third, what a mystery, I did make a guess about Charity And Harley, but what a story. Fourth, Auroua makes herself more unsafe than Martin's work...great read!

The writing is good, the plot interesting and the characters believable. But the protagonist is a little tiresome. She likes her delicate Southern self image and thinks her preoccupation with which glasses to wear is cute. She is prone to stomp off to her bedroom and cry when she doesn’t get her way, which is irritating. I wouldn’t seek out another book in this series. As a footnote I’d like to mention the author refers to Joe Pike as Joe Pyle. Someone should have caught that error.

Having enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series (except the last book), I tried this on a whim, thanks to a Kindle daily deal. I was really underwhelmed. Approximately 90% of the book could be chalked up as #fwp, and about 10% mystery. I found the protagonist to be annoying, the plot line weird, and the supporting cast rather boring and unbelievable. Perhaps Roe was wearing her judgy-pants a bit too snugly in this book, but as I don't find that a likable quality in my real-life friends, I don't feel the need to explore the other books in the series.

The Julius House is the fourth book in the Aurora Teagarden series. Aurora "Roe" has finally recovered from her injuries incurred at the end of the last book and is happily engaged to Martin Bartell, her handsome, older, richer boyfriend. For her wedding gift, Martin buys her the Julius house, the perfect house for her. Many people think she is crazy for living there due to the sudden disappearance of the Julius family who used to live there. Roe doesn't worry about it in the slightest and concentrates on glorying in her happily engaged status. She loves being the bride instead of the bridesmaid and pushes any doubts about her soon-to-be-husband aside. When they return from their perfect honeymoon in England, Roe settles in to redecorate and get settled. She is surprised when Martin informs her that two of his friends are down on their luck and that they will be moving into the apartment over the garage. Still, Roe is in love and excited to meet some of Martin's friends and does her best to welcome them. She soon discovers, however, that they are really there to guard her. When pressured, Martin confesses that he is a gunrunner in South America and that he is always worried about retaliation. To take her mind off of this confession, Roe decides that she is going to find out what happened to the Julius family and drags her bodyguard along for the ride. She soon discovers that sometimes it is better to let secrets remain buried...I admit that the whole Roe/Martin wedding was a little contrived, but Roe really has wanted to get married all of her life and is extremely flattered that such an attractive, wealthy gentleman would be in love with her. It was fun to see Roe's thought processes as she dealt with extreme changes and challenges in her new life. I quite enjoyed the whole Julius family subplot and, though the ending was a little bit too shocking, Roe's whole investigation was quite logical and shows how one determined person can often put clues together that other people missed. As with the her other books, Charlaine Harris offers the reader a host of interesting supporting characters, many amusing details about the mystery and a fun, fast read for those who enjoy this type of genre. I feel that Harris' other mystery series starring Lily Bard (Shakespeare set) is stronger and her Dead Until Dark series is cleverer, but anything that Harris writes is worth reading!

This is one of Ms. Harris' earlier books and it shows in the writing. There are a few plot errors from book to book in the series but mainly noticeable if you read them back to back like I did. Overall a good book and only slightly predictable ending. It is very different from the made for T.V. movies!

Book four in the life and times of the wonderful Aurora Teagarden - for whom murder, mystery and mayhem is a day to day issue. Aurora has now married Martin - who, it seems, has secrets of his own - and as a wedding present he buys her 'The Julius House', a house outside of town from which a whole family apparently disappeared some years before. A delighted Aurora throws herself not only into the project of renovation but also of detection as a result. Chaos inevitably ensues. Well written, engrossing and closely plotted this is another delightful read. Charlaine Harris has created an immensely likeable protagonist in Aurora - well rounded and believable - and always leaves the reader wanting more. Each novel has its' own tale (so can be read as a standalone) although there is a timeline so it's beneficial to read from book one. Once again, full marks for thorough enjoyment. Recommended for those who love a well written mystery with a big heart.

I do enjoy the aurora teagarden books, I have also watched the films normally I prefer to read books as they never do them justice in the films but in case I am not sure the story, the mystery is much better in the books. But the characters are so much stronger in the films I don't think Roe would ever marry Martin if her character was as strong in the book as she is in the film he has too many secrets and hides too much I also think she would turn him in if she found out he was running guns

Im making my way through this series of books and love them. They are short and easy to read but this isn't a bad thing. It builds up throughout the book and keeps me guessng. I like Charlaine's style of writing and have read other series by her. Interesting characters ad keeps you gripped. I have already ordered the next one in the series!

Another great novel from Charlaine Harris - as with all her other books in the Aurora Teagarden series, this one kept me gripped to the very end.

I have read as many of these Aurora Teagarden mysteries as I can get my hands on, and enjoyed them all. I found the characters likable, and unforgettable and I'm hoping there are more of them to come.

Well written and engaging story, with plenty of lighthearted moments to offset the gruesome murders.

Complex enough to keep me wanting to read but not so complex I lose track.

love these books be warned read them in order

Bought as a gift.

Brilliant book thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was another good read from Charlaine Harris

This was interesting from the perspective of thinking you know the man you marry . Just goes to show that you don't .

Another novel that you're not able to put down. Perfect mix of mystery, suspense and ordinary life going on around it.

An enjoyable read,the best of the series so far.As always Harris writes in a nice easy style with gentle humor, and makes Aurora pleasant company with which to spend an evening or two.

This 4th book in the series provides even more highs and lows of Aurora Teagardens life, after just getting married she finds her self occupied with more murderous subjects.