The Julius House--Aurora Teagarden #4 by Charlaine Harris

Love at first sight turns into newlywed bliss for former librarian Aurora Teagarden-until violence cuts the honeymoon short.

 

Wealthy businessman Martin Bartell gives Roe exactly what she wants for their wedding: Julius House. But both the house and Martin come with murky pasts. And when Roe is attacked by an ax-wielding maniac, she realizes that the secrets inside her four walls—and her brand-new marriage—could destroy her.

 

Series: Aurora Teagarden #4 | Publisher: Berkley | Genre: Cozy Contemporary Mystery| Rating: 3.5 Cups

Challenges Read For: Cruisin' Thru the Cozies

It’s always fun being back in Aurora’s world. And having read this one, it makes me want to re-read the series.  

 

Here’s what’s going on: Aurora has a lot on her plate; she’s finally marrying Martin and she’s moved into her dream house, which happens to be the house where an entire family vanished. Although the state of wedded bliss is short lived when she discovers that Martin is keeping secrets and her house may hold the answers to what happened to the Julius family.

 

I finally managed to read the only book in the Aurora Teagarden series (that’s out) that I’ve missed and, for a cozy, it was sort of meh. The first half of the book revolved around Aurora’s wedding and Martin’s shady past. The last half finally kicked in the investigation, but it sort of seemed as though the investigation was more of a distraction for Roe so she wouldn’t have to focus on what was going on with Martin and his past.

 

This one was very light on the investigation, seriously if you put it in a thimble, you’d have a ton of room left—she asked a few questions, measured some walls, and read a few old newspaper articles. I wished there would have been more action on the investigation and mystery front.

 

I did enjoy learning more about Martin’s shady past. He’s never been my favorite character in the series, but he’s always been an interesting one. Although I do have to question Aurora’s behavior when she learned about Martin’s past; rather than acting like an adult, she would demand the information then sulk and demand him not to talk anymore about it when he finally revealed it.

 

Overall, this one wasn’t my favorite in the series. I would actually like some investigation and mystery with my cozy mystery.

   Aurora Teagarden Series

1-Real Murders

2-A Bone to Pick

3-Three Bedrooms, One Corpse

4-The Julius House

5-Dead Over Heels

6-A Fool and His Honey

7-Last Scene Alive

8-Poppy Done to Dead

9-All the Little Liars