Last Updated on April 22, 2026
Aurora Teagarden is the famous amateur sleuth and librarian made famous in the Charlaine Harris series of books.
Between 1990 and 2017, Harris wrote 11 books that chronicled the life of Teagarden in Georgia as she and her Real Murders Club solved various past and present cases.
Those books then became even more famous when Hallmark Movies & Mysteries adapted them, with Candace Cameron Bure in the leading role.
18 TV movies aired between 2015 and 2022, right through to Aurora getting married, and then Cameron Bure left Hallmark to go to GAC Family.
Of course, she’s quite entitled to make any decisions she wants in her own life, and if she felt that GAC Family aligned more with her than Hallmark, that’s her prerogative.
But, what it did do was leave the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries up in the air. It’s not like they could suddenly get a new Aurora. Or could they??
Enter Skyler Samuels as a young Teagarden and cue the prequel movie series, which began in June 2023 with Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New.
It was a hit, and so Hallmark commissioned the series, the second of which is A Lesson in Murder.
Skyler as Aurora
You know what you’re getting with Aurora Teagarden. It’s not rocket science. Take a lovely, studious, and smart young woman and put her in the middle of a mystery that somehow only she can solve.
There’s no bloodshed, no violence, and no bad language. Everybody is beautiful and styled to within an inch of their lives, and Aurora, though she often makes incredibly foolish choices, always gets the culprit.
It’s cozy mystery 101, and Hallmark knows how to give their audience exactly what they want.
For me, they verge on being just a little too contrived, and in the prequel series, even more so.
Young Aurora is determined and headstrong, which are worthy traits, however, she almost always puts her friends in danger simply to prove she is right about one thing or another.
Then again, I will give Skyler Samuels credit for at least playing Aurora slightly differently insofar as she is still discovering her investigative abilities.
So, with all that said, what is A Lesson in Murder about?
Movie Plot
It is 2008, and Aurora has returned home to Lawrenceton to complete her post-grad. She is working for her professor, teaching a true crime literature class.
A couple of her students don’t get along, and when one of them is murdered, it’s all hands on deck to find out whodunit.
She also has a second job working in a diner where she meets and starts dating Daniel while also being incredibly good friends with Police officer newbie Arthur Smith.
When it transpires that the dead student was murdered by poison – a topic the class has just been studying – all fingers point to three suspects.
But when all three have alibis, and there is no concrete proof against any of them, the investigation stalls, leaving it to Aurora to figure out what happened.
Worth A Watch?
The prequel films have been generally well-received, particularly for their fresh take on the beloved characters, many of whom are in the series as their younger selves.
Skyler Samuels brings a new energy to the role without trying to mimic Candace Cameron Bure’s interpretation, and she’s incredibly watchable. She’s savvy but wholesome, and that’s not a bad thing.
Taking the series in the direction of reimagining Aurora as a recent college graduate is a smart one. Throw in the fact that she is both working as a teaching assistant and waitressing at a local diner, and it opens up a whole new world of plotline opportunities.
The chemistry between the new cast members, especially Skyler Samuels and Evan Roderick as Arthur is excellent. So too, is the retention of Marilu Henner as Aurora’s mother Aida, who provides the bridge to the original series while helping to maintain continuity.
As for the central mystery in A Lesson in Murder, it’s ok. I did like the resolution, as with a lot of these movies, they are pretty predictable.
Overall, though, the movie maintains the cozy mystery atmosphere that made the original series popular, and A Lesson in Murder is perfectly watchable and entertaining.
Where To Watch?
If you are in the United States, you can watch A Lesson in Murder on the Hallmark Movies channel.
Those of you in the UK can stream it on My5, the online platform for Channel 5.
Just note that it gets added, then removed, then added and removed, and at the time of writing is due to be taken down in early March 2025.
Where Are The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries Filmed?
Even though the books are based in Georgia, the TV movies are set in Washington, not that it matters because they are actually filmed in Vancouver, Canada – mostly!
As of March 2024, new prequel movies are being filmed in Victoria, British Columbia.
Like the original series, the prequels maintain the tradition of filming in Canada as the locations provide diverse backdrops, including lush forests, coastlines, and mountain ranges that help create the series’ distinctive atmosphere.
Next in the Series
Now that the prequel series is well underway, the third instalment is called Death at the Diner, where Aurora’s boyfriend, Daniel, becomes the main suspect…
As of January 2025, there have been no official announcements about additional Aurora Teagarden prequel mysteries beyond the first three films.
