Garage Sale Mystery: The Novel Murders

I still love this series in spite of the corrupt Lori Loughlin. I actually still find her perfect for the role much to my annoyance.

There are still many I haven't seen but I prefer when she's finding dead bodies at garage sales or in old houses she's checking out for antiques. This one felt more like an Aurora Teagarden mystery I saw where the murderer was copying real murders. Lori even delivered lines like Aurora's character would have.

I liked the camping subplot with father and son and it gave me a chance to get a little more used to the new actor playing their son, Logan.

It seemed a little slow and not as exciting as usual. But still enjoyable.

Only the most peripheral connections to Lori Loughlin's antiquing business are involved in this Garage Sale Mystery. She delivers an item that this most reclusive man bought at her store and finds him dead.

Possibly this film should have been part of the librarian Aurora Teagarden series given her connections and book knowledge. But Loughlin recognizes the method as belonging to an Agatha Christie story. A clue left point to another man, than he's murdered by a method that Arthur Conan Doyle used in one of his Sherlock Holmes stories.

Go to a Holmes aficionado and he's later murdered with a method used in a Mary Roberts Rhinehart novel. Takes a while a Loughlin solves it, but she nearly becomes a fourth victim. If she hadn't who knows how many this killer might have racked up?

Two side plots not normal in a Hallmark mystery are in this one. One involves husband Steve Bacic and son Connor Stanhope trying a little father&son camping for bonding. The second is Loughlin's BFF Sarah Strange exposing a bunco racket involving a fortune teller.

Nice, but really should have been a Teagarden story.

This was a wonderful and literary murder that starts with an elderly gentleman interested in the figure of a bird. He ends up dead much the same way as the murder victim in an Agatha Christie novel and would have been ruled death by natural causes if it hadn't been for Jennifer's suspicions. When a life coach is murdered ala Sherlock Holmes it is obvious that Jennifer is on the right track and she becomes a consultant for Frank! Finally, no changes to the cast (except our medical examiner is strangely missing).

Together Frank and Jennifer solve this murder. Great mystery and I learned that Agatha Christie worked as a pharmacist in WWI which is why she uses a lot of poisons in her murder mysteries. This is a strong recommendation to cosy mystery fans.

I enjoyed this one the least so far. And this is coming from a bookworm! The entire plot was far too predictable, and the ending downright silly.

6/10 - clever murder mystery is extra enjoyable for fans of classic mystery novels