The Julius House (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, Book 4) [Mass Market Paperback]

Charlaine Harris (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 3, 2008

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this best of the series to date, Aurora (Roe) Teagarden, the former librarian returned to her roots in Lawrenceton, Ga., marries Martin Bartell, the rich, secretive and charismatic businessman she met in Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994). For their home, Martin buys the house once occupied by T.C. Julius, his terminally ill wife Hope and their teenage daughter. Six years earlier, the Julius family had disappeared without a trace, leaving only Hope's mother in the garage apartment. Martin lets the apartment to an old Vietnam buddy, Shelby Youngblood, and his wife Angel, who seem suspiciously like bodyguards to Roe. As questions about Martin's past and present disturb her newfound happiness, Roe determines to solve the Julius family mystery, enlisting Angel's help. A vicious attack and a stunning discovery lead the two women to New Orleans and a dramatic set of answers to puzzles old and new. The author's brisk, upbeat style keeps tension simmering under the everyday surface, while Roe's inclination to girlish chatter (a trial in earlier works) is restrained.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Aurora Teagarden, who gave up librarianship when she inherited money, marries the handsome businessman she met in Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (LJ 3/1/94). They settle down in his wedding gift to her: the so-called Julius house, named for the family who disappeared from it six years earlier. Aurora eventually discovers what really happened; unfortunately, she also uncovers a few unsavory things about her husband. Suspense sprouts from tiny seeds planted early on, and the tensions of a new marriage and an old mystery provide much fertilizer. Good reading, augmented by solid characterization and occasional humor.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425222039
• ISBN-13: 978-0425222034
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charlaine Harris (born November 25, 1951 in Tunica, Mississippi) is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for over twenty years. She was raised in the Mississippi River Delta area. Though her early works consisted largely of poems about ghosts and, later, teenage angst, she wrote plays when she attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She began to write books a few years later.
After publishing two stand-alone mysteries, Harris launched a lighthearted series "starring" Georgia librarian Aurora Teagarden, with Real Murders, a Best Novel nominee for the 1990 Agatha Awards. Harris wrote eight Aurora titles. In 1996, she released the first of the much darker Shakespeare mysteries, featuring the amateur sleuth Lily Bard, a karate student who makes her living cleaning houses. Shakespeare's Counselor, the fifth--and last-- was printed in fall 2001.
After Shakespeare, Harris created The Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasy series about a telepathic waitress who works in a bar in the fictional Northern Louisiana town of Bon Temps. The first of these, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. Each book follows Sookie as she tries to solve mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures. The series, which now numbers nine titles, has been released worldwide.
Sookie Stackhouse proved to be so popular that Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, announced he would undertake the production of a new show for HBO based upon the books. He wrote and directed the pilot episode for that series, True Blood, which premiered in September of 2008. It was an instant success and was quickly picked up for a second season.
In October 2005, Harris's new mystery series about a young woman named Harper Connelly debuted with the release of Grave Sight. Harper has the ability to determine the cause of death of any body. There are now three Harper titles (GRAVE SIGHT, GRAVE SURPRISE, AN ICE COLD GRAVE) with a 4th (GRAVE SECRET) to be released in 2009.
Harris has also co-edited three very popular anthologies with her friend Toni L.P. Kelner. The anthologies feature stories with an element of the supernatural, and the submissions come from a rare mixture of mystery and urban fantasy writers.
Professionally, Harris is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the American Crime Writers League. She is a member of the board of Sisters in Crime, and alternates with Joan Hess as president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance. Personally, Harris is married and the mother of three. She lives in a small town in Southern Arkansas and when she is not writing her own books, she reads omnivorously!

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#14 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#2 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#2 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#3 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#3 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#5 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#2 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#2 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#3 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#3 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#5 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not as Good as Previous Books, But Still A Great Author! March 19, 2003

By Silmarwen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Book #4 in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries March 19, 2007

By K. Gilligan VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

"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")

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All of her books are wonderful November 11, 2008

By Stella Nemeth

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am reading the Aurora Teagarden series for the first time. I'm so glad that Charlaine Harris' publishers are reprinting her older books. This series does have something in common with her vampire series, although there is nothing so dangerous as a vampire in it.

I've read enough of her books now to know that she starts each series with a heroine who is damaged in some way, and that as the series continues the heroine becomes much stronger, because of the damage and not in spite of it.

Aurora doesn't look damaged on the surface, but she is a very tiny, odd looking woman that no one takes seriously, and she doesn't seem to be able to attract a decent man into her life. By this book in the series that has changed. She has met the love of her life and is engaged to marry him. In a previous book she inherited enough money to have made her life comfortable. She is no longer living on the edge financially. In all of Charlaine Harris' books, each book is an individual story, but there is also always the continuing story arc about what is going on in the lives of the characters. I like that combination a lot.

Each book in this series is a mystery, and in this one Aurora falls in love with a house that has a mystery built in. The previous owners, the Julius family, disappeared one day many years previously and in this book Aurora and her companions solve that mystery.