Title: Real Murders
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Aurora Teagarden Mystery, #1
Narrator: Therese Plummer
Published: November 2009, Recorded Books
Length: 6 hours 7 minutes
Source: Personal copy via Audible
Though a small town at
heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of
whom is librarian Aurora “Roe” Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders
Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It’s a harmless
pastime — until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that
eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other
brutal “copycat” killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person
behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real
Murders, herself included, as prime suspects — or potential victims.
My thoughts: I first heard of this series after watching the tv-made movies of two of these books on the Hallmark Channel with Candace Cameron Bure. I enjoyed the movies so much and didn’t realize that they were based on a book series, so I decided to give the first book a go.
I love the premise of this series – a group of people, calling themselves the Real Murders Club, meet monthly to discuss famous murders. It’s kind of fascinating, in a morbid, dark way. But, to each it’s own when it comes to hobbies. I really liked the main character, Aurora “Roe” Teagarden, who is a librarian and member of this club. She is all set to present the case she has selected to the group when she finds someone murdered at the meeting place and it’s exactly like the case she was about to present. And that’s not the only body to be found nor the only case to be copied. Someone is targeting members of their club and causing the cops to look at the other club members very closely.
It’s interesting to note that for some reason, Hallmark did the second book as their first movie and the first book as their second movie…I’m not sure what the reason was for the switch and I was a bit confused when I looked into the series, but I decided to read the series in the order that it was written.
This book was a fun, thrilling read. Having already seen two of the Hallmark movies, I already knew how this would play out, but it was still fun to read it as it was a little different. And I’m glad that it was. I like that I didn’t know every little detail going in and I definitely plan on continuing with the series – both reading and watching, if Hallmark continues making them!
Audio thoughts: I think Therese Plummer did a great job with this book. She was able to give each character a unique voice and I had no trouble following along. This was an Audible Deal of the Day and I’m glad that I picked it up – it was well-worth it!!!
Books in this series:
- Real Murders
- A Bone to Pick
- Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
- The Julius House
- Dead Over Heels
- A Fool and His Honey
- Last Scene Alive
- Poppy Done to Death
I noticed that about the Hallmark movies as well and thought that was kind of strange though the 2nd book was probably my favorite. I haven't actually watched the movies yet though I have them both recorded but I read the series years ago and really enjoyed them. It's the closest that Harris comes to a straight forward mystery. Can't wait to watch the movies and I'll have to look for this in audio. It's been so long since I've read it that I'd love to revisit it.