Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

The film opens with Aurora 'Roe' Teagarden, a librarian in Lawrenceton, discussing her 'Real Murders Club' with her skeptical mother, Aida, who would prefer Roe date a minister. Roe meets Robin Daniels, a famous mystery writer and new tenant in one of Aida's properties, and the two share an immediate bond over their mutual interest in macabre history. The plot intensifies when club member Mamie Wright is found murdered, posed exactly like Julia Wallace—the subject of that night's club meeting—complete with a raincoat placed under the body. Detective Arthur Smith, Roe's ex-boyfriend, and his wife Detective Lynn Liggett-Smith lead the investigation, but Roe quickly realizes they are dealing with a copycat killer who knows the club's internal schedule. As the investigation proceeds, a box of poisoned chocolates is delivered to Roe's house, mimicking the 1878 Cordelia Botkin case. Later, local politician Morrison Pettigrue is found stabbed in a bathtub with papers floating around him, a direct recreation of the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat. Suspicion falls on various club members, including the hot-headed Perry Dell and the butcher Benjamin Greer, who eventually gives a false confession just to gain media attention. Roe creates a complex diagram to predict the next victim, realizing the killer is following a specific pattern of historical cases. She correctly predicts an attack on her friend Sally's parents based on the Lizzie Borden case, saving them with a timely phone call. In the climax, Roe deduces that the killer is Bankston Waites, a club member who felt insulted by other members' superior knowledge, assisted by his girlfriend Melanie. Roe and Robin are captured by the duo in the library, where Bankston intends to kill them using a heavy dictionary to mirror the Laura Landry case. Roe cleverly taunts Bankston about his 'sloppy' technique and historical inaccuracies to buy time. She tricks Melanie into searching for a specific 'rare' edition of a dictionary, leading to a struggle that allows the police to arrive just in time. The film concludes with the Real Murders Club continuing under new popularity, and Roe and Robin beginning a romantic relationship.