The Julius House (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, Book 4)

The story starts out happy and with the expected mystery. But, the author throws in a bit of a second mystery that makes the story much more interesting. This second mystery shows us that not every one is completely good or completely bad, that there are several states of in between. As the story unfolds we learn how Roe learns this for herself and how she copes with where her heart leads her. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and hope that the author will continue with the second mystery in the next novel.

In Lawrenceton, Georgia wealthy businessman Martin Bartell, the manager of the Pan Am Agra Plant, fell in love with Aurora "Roe" Teagarden from the moment they first met. Older and more sophisticated than her, they set a wedding date within weeks of their first meeting. As a wedding present Martin gives his fiancée the deed to the Julius House. The house has a mysterious history because one night six years ago the family vanished without a reason or a trace; leaving everything behind. When Roe finds something illegal that her new spouse is involved in, she tries to ignore her qualms by investigating what happened to the Julius family. Her inquiries almost kill her; and it is only thanks to her tenant Angel that she survived the harrowing situation. When she finds the bodies of the family members, a new mystery surfaces that takes Roe and Angel into danger in New Orleans where people want them dead. Charlaine Harris is one of the best writers of regional cozies. Her amateur sleuth tales are filled with colorful characters, red herrings, plenty of suspects, and clues that ask more questions than they answer. The protagonist is a classical southern steel magnolia; beautiful to look at with a strong metallic spine as she is not afraid to face danger and confront horrors even involving the man she loves. Harriet Klausner

"The Julius House" by Charlaine Harris is the fourth book in her series about Aurora Teagarden. (Follows Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 1, A Bone To Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Book 2 and Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery) Roe is now happily engaged to Martin Bartell, but nothing is as it seems. Martin has just gifted Roe with the old Julius house as a wedding present, and she is happily planning on moving them in. Depite its history (the Julius family mysteriously vanished years ago), she finds it enchanting. She even finds no problem with letting a couple of Martin's friends live on the property. That is, until she finds out that they're her bodyguards. Besides dealing with her husband, Roe decides she wants to figure out what happened to the Julius family. I enjoyed this book as much as I did the earlier ones. It did take me a bit to warm to Martin, but I've decided that he's just what Roe needs. And unlike "Three Bedrooms, One Corpse", I did not solve the mystery before Roe! Everytime I thought I had figured it out, something new would be revealed, and I'd have to rethink my whole theory. I fully recommend this series! Next is Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 5, followed by Fool And His Honey: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 6, Last Scene Alive (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries), and Poppy Done To Death: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, Bk. 8. Or if you'd like to try a different series by Charlaine Harris, check out the Lily Bard mysteries.(Shakespeare's Landlord (The First Lily Bard Mystery), "Shakespeare's Champion", Shakespeare's Christmas", "Shakespeare's Trollop", and Shakespeare's Counselor") Or her new supernatural Southern Vampire Mysteries (Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bk. 1), "Living Dead in Dallas", "Club Dead", "Dead to the World", "Dead as a Doornail", "Definitely Dead", and "All Together Dead")

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!

Although this book is out of print, it is well worth the time to find it. It was even better than "Three Bedrooms, One Corpse." I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story.