Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Game of Cat and Mouse (2019 TV Movie) User Reviews

A Worthy Whodunit

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 18 October 2020]

This is the third Aurora Teagarden mystery I have watched and the best so far. This is not a murder mystery, but, as the title suggests, a game of wits between Aurora and someone who is committing lesser crimes and leaving clues, daring her to solve them.

This mystery has plenty of suspects. Could the perpetrator be a romantic rival? Could it be someone with a grudge? Or maybe someone who just wants to test wits against the Lawrenceton legend?

Teena Booth, the writer who has penned most of these episodes, gives us a solid whodunit that includes literary references. And the cast turns in some good performances in support of this entertaining mystery.

Great series!

[andresjdiaz · 8/10 · 12 August 2019]

Glad that now you can set it as a series and do not get to miss one of the movies because I forgot to set the dvr. You can usually tell who's the culprit on these type of movies since the beginning. In my case, at least this particular movie had me guessing between two up until the end. One thing I have to say, and I hope producers read these reviews, that wig Candace is wearing for this trio of movies, needs to go. It looks really fake.

Aurora is the target

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 7 August 2019]

This Aurora Teagarden mystery is a bit different in that our sleuthing librarian is the target from the beginning. Of course this has something to do with a real murder mystery that took place several years back that got a bit of notoriety.

Several members of her real murders club are targets. But in this case they are targets for lesser crimes, some of them falling into the range of pranks.

When Candace Cameron Bure confronts the author of all these events and this individual is the murderer in that other case, you won't believe the motive. It is fascinating some of the things that can build up in a mind if you let it.

Nicely done, looks like Candace will be going strong with this series for a while yet.

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Game of Cat and Mouse

[JoBloTheMovieCritic · 6/10 · 5 August 2019]

6/10 - one of the more predictable Roe mysteries, but that in no way means it isn't fun and a highly intriguing mystery drama

A really well written script

[wjspears · 9/10 · 13 August 2021]

I found this an exceptionally well written script.

At first it feels very predictable--Aurora is with her new love interest, Nick Miller. A young girl shows up and appears to be jealous of Nick's attention toward Aurora, Then another girl, a student at the university where Nick teaches also shows signs of jealousy--and it felt like I knew where the story was going even before it got started.

But then the script adds a sort of Agatha Christie twist. The perpetrator is leaving taunting clues, for Aurora in particular as to who the next attack victim will be. Another mystery cliché, true. But it adds a nice layer of complexity and makes events seem less predictable.

Then, Aurora's best friend, Sally Allison is attacked and almost dies. This ratchets up the suspense immensely, especially when the last clue seems to be indicating that the last victim is going to be Aurora herself, and she won't be as lucky as the other participants in this "cat and mouse game".

Yes, all this is standard mystery stuff--but what matters is how it is put together. This was filmed in 2019. No one can write anything original in the mystery genre anymore. All anyone can do is to reassemble the pieces in a new and exciting way. And the producers did just that, IMO. The episode does a wonderful job of building regret, guilt, and tension.

Finally, mystery-wise, the actual perpetrator did come as a surprise to me, and not in an unfair way. The taunting nature of the clues being left made the perpetrator a logical choice even if I never suspected.

nice clues

[Kirpianuscus · 20 March 2022]

Well crafted story, good acting, nice constructed twist and tension and same soft crime rules . A smart episode about risks, jealousy, books - a great trip across crime literature, a good job in each scene. Short, seductive fist of traits for image for Aurora Teagarden.

A game of cat and mouse

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 11 July 2023]

A break-in at the venue for a Real Murders Club meeting leads Aurora to investigate cryptic clues left at crime scenes. The clues are quotes from mystery novels and Aurora enlists the help of Professor Nick Miller and his colleague and friend Bree (Tammy Gillis), a forensic psychologist at the college. However, when those close to her are targeted, it seems murder may be the ultimate end, motivated by jealousy over her burgeoning relationship with Nick.

There's not much murders in this lively entry of the Teagarden Mystery series, but it's refreshingly focused on a perpetrator who is targeting Aurora and her friends, and is taunting Aurora. It's a bit predictable in terms of who is the villain. I sort figured it was that problem.

Return to Series

[pgreywacz-500-46798 · 8/10 · 9 September 2019]

I had stopped watching Aurora Teagarden movies because as much as I like Yannick Bisson in other programs like Murdoch Mysteries, I thought pairing with Roe a big mistake. No onscreen chemistry. Now that her new boyfriend Niall Matter is in the series, I will return to watching them. Love the plots that returned to The Real Murders Club. Thanks!!!

Quotes from detective novels have Ro and her real murders crew in a tail spin.

[cgvsluis · 8/10 · 26 January 2022]

Aurora Teagarden mysteries are in my top three favorite mysteries on hallmark along with Hannah Swensen's Murder she baked and Mystery 101. I look forward to every episode.

This episode started a little darker than most of the other episodes, with what appears to be a fairly violent kidnapping or murder.

Next scene, Aurora's cousin Philip and the new hunky neighbor/professor, Nick, come to their first "real murders club" where Aurora is going over the lipstick killer...except it is interrupted by a thief. Their club meeting is a crime scene.

"A guy who picks up his socks...talk about a dream man."-Valerie

"Another dig at the real murders club."-Lynn.

"Aurora Teagarden, a besmircher."-Aurthur

"Play with murder enough and it gets you." The thief is leaving clues in the form of quotes from old detective novels.

"We think he is challenging Roe with his clues."-Nick.

The criminal is in a cat and mouse game with Aurora that escalates to attempted murder when her beloved best friend Sally ends up in the hospital.

Ro seems really rattled, can she get it together to solve this mystery?

I loved the detective fiction references in this episode, Poe, Dashiel Hammet, Dorothy Sayers, etc. It also introduces a forensic psychologist, profiler and friend of Nick's, Bri.

"Modus operandi is the manner in which the offender commits the crime, say the method of killing-knife, gun. His signature is something the offender does to fulfill himself emotionally. It's an addiction."-Bri.

"I could use more jello."-Sally.

This was really personal for Ro and it made for a good show. It also allowed Nick and Ro to bond a little.

First kiss and first official date.

I highly recommend this series. It is fantastic and this is one of the better episodes.

Good movie, kinda goofy. Missed goof

[christa_16 · 8/10 · 21 February 2022]

I noticed another goof in the movie are Nick and Philip get an alert from Ro's phone about the tracker app. Nick tells Philip, "I'll drive, you call Nick." Lol. I thought he WAS Nick. Oops.

So, so, bad it's actually funny.

[annette-107 · 3/10 · 19 August 2019]

Watched this as we were looking for something on a rainy day with guests. Completely predictable. The acting was hysterical and the characters were so cliche. Oh, and Candace Bure's wig is awful.

Good serial killer movie..!

[kamalbeeee · 8/10 · 5 September 2023]

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Game of Cat and Mouse (2019)

A serial killer left the note which has quote from novel book... The detective try to find the killer by that hint and finally she made it... Asusal this also good in This series.. But we have to remember the characters and shld follow the story line.. Must watch investigation movie...!

Aurora Teagarden - Ro to her friends - is a librarian and president of the Real Murders Discussion Club in the town of Lawrenceton, she seen as the smartest of the club members when it comes to those real life murders. Who she brings new to the club are her younger cousin, college student Phillip Pifer, which does not sit well with Ro's mother, realtor Aida Teagarden who only sees trouble in talking about murder, and relatively new friend, Nick Miller, a Psychology professor at the local college, Ro and Nick who seem to be on the cusp of a relationship. In Ro setting up a day before a meeting in leading a discussion about the Lipstick Murders, the club members arrive to discover that Ro's discussion materials have either been vandalized or stolen, the vandal who left a calling card of sorts in some literary quote scribbled on one of Ro's Lipstick Murders crime scene photos. When Aida's office is subsequently vandalized with a similar literary quote calling card on another Lipstick Murders crime scene photo and some of Ro's materials stolen in the previous crime, Ro, on other evidence, is assumed to be the common bond and the target of whatever the criminal's actions. Police Chief Lynn Smith, and her husband, Homicide Detective Arthur Smith - a Real Murders member himself much to Lynn's chagrin - look to anyone who may have a grudge against Ro. The suspects include: new club member Davis Mettle, who seems to resent Ro's superiority on the subject; Edward Irons, a regular at the library who blames Ro for among other things not having his self-published book stocked in the library; Nick's new T. A. Dina McMillan, an academically bright but socially insecure woman who seems to have a hate at first sight for Ro; and much to Ro's chagrin Valerie Wagner, a longtime family friend who reacts unusually to the fact of the crimes and who had access in being both Ro and Aida's cleaner with code access and keys to both properties. Although Lynn has always resented any assistance from the Real Murders club members especially Ro herself, she does somewhat welcome that of her friend and Nick's boss, Forensic Psychologist Bree Carson who may be able to provide additional insight beyond the on the surface evidence. This collective will have to work fast to discover the perpetrator as he or she has committed subsequent crimes - with the same signature of the literary quote on a photo and stolen items from the previous crime left at the scene - against people close to Ro, those crimes increasingly violent with arguably the end target being Ro herself.

A bag full of rye

[frukuk · 1/10 · 14 July 2020]

Is this an adaptation of one of the Aurora Teagarden crime novels written by Charlaine Harris, or is it an original script? It certainly feels like it's an adaptation, because so much stuff is crammed into this film: as if the scriptwriter produced a very faithful transcription of a book containing an inordinate amount of busyness. So much is going on that the story isn't allowed to breathe. If the scriptwriter had faith in "less being more", this pretty standard story might have yielded a passable film; as it is, this is really not worth watching.

Wow... Just wow....

[epicsausage-24721 · 1/10 · 25 March 2021]

Never have i ever been so dissapointed in a film. The storyline, the acting, the script. It's as if the writer of the film just scribbled on a piece of paper and the director casted actors from towie. I want to wash my eyes with bleach after watching this film.

Awful

[pmc31-1 · 1/10 · 29 September 2019]

How awful? Well you actually want anyone who attempts to murder the main character to succeed.

Ah modern women cannot hold murder mystery clubs....ugh!

[Cilica · 1/10 · 5 October 2019]

This is about the worst of the series. Aurora's apologizing for a stranger stealing a colleague's car because it might be about Aurora...seriously. OK its a Christian values show but everyone is concerned about running a Murder Club. Strange.