Mystery 101

This movie is very clean and well articulated. No nudity, no violence, no stupid dialogues, no cursing, no sex, no drugs and above all well arranged.

It is a movie for smart people.

As an mystery enthusiasts, I will watch every mystery series that Hallmark puts on but there are none that I look more forward to with anticipation than Mystery 101. Kristoffer Polaha and Jill Wagner have insane on screen chemistry that leaves you wanting to watch Travis and Amy over and over. The cases are fun as well as they give you enough clues to help you figure out who dunnit along with them and things that may seem little at the beginning turn out to be big in the end. Another thing I love is how things the characters do and say carry over from one episode to the next. The progression of Travis and Amy's relationship is very organic and realistic. Give this a try!

Mystery 101 is the second Hallmark mystery movie I've watched in the last two days. In this one, Professor Amy Winslow (Jill Wagner) becomes concerned when one of her students goes missing. She is convinced the girl has met with foul play. The problem is that the police don't agree. Winslow begins an investigation and uncovers clues that the police can't dispute. With Winslow's unwelcomed assistance, Detective Travis Burke (Kristoffer Polaha) determines the girl's disappearance may be connected to other strange occurrences at the college.

If anything, I enjoyed this, the pilot for Hallmark's Mystery 101 series, more than the previous Hallmark movie I watched (Crossword Mysteries "A Puzzle to Die For"). I found the mystery here more engaging for the viewer. There were more opportunities to play along with the whodunnit. And even though I spotted the killer almost immediately, I enjoyed discovering the "why" behind it all and watching Winslow piece it all together. In addition, there's something about the feel of the relatively small college campus in Mystery 101 that I found appealing, especially when compared with the big city of the other film.

Being a Hallmark movie, you just know from the minute Winslow and Burke meet that it's only a matter of time before they fall for each other. Sure, it's kind of predictable and a little cringey, but there was definite chemistry between the two actors that really added to the movie. It helps that both gave solid performances. With a couple of exceptions, the rest of the cast is decent enough in their supporting roles.

Overall, these movies aren't for everyone - in fact, they probably wouldn't have worked for me 20 years ago. But as I grow older, I appreciate the simple story structure with likeable characters and a mystery that's not overly taxing. Mystery 101 is entertaining enough for me to rate a 7/10.

7/10.

So often in anything Hallmark, how the viewer connects with the actors makes all the difference. I read one review that said that both Wagner and Polaha act natural, not fake, and I realized that was the description I was looking for in this movie. They also connect well with each other after you get past the obligatory animosity especially on the skeptical detective's part.

The difficult thing in a new amateur detective series is getting past the skepticism of the professional detective(s). It is totally justifiable on their part. Amateur's can destroy a prosecution and as one other reviewer points out, Amy makes a bunch of those mistakes even though they get glossed over and ignored. In this movie, getting past the initial skepticism was clumsy and far too quick. The transition was instant. Burke was resistant one second and then totally caved and became like a puppy dog as far as accepting Amy's participation.

I think it's obvious that if this becomes a series (which it does), then something will happen between Amy and Travis. This is just the start. We have another budding romance in the two assistants. Both relationships are slightly overplayed.

The mystery itself had a nice number of possible suspects and some of the usual red herrings. Overall, the movie was entertaining, as a nice mystery with an appealing cast.

Which is NO bad thing in my house - being an avid reader and viewer of fictional crime/whodunnit-type mysteries, I have thoroughly enjoyed most, if not all of the various TV mystery Film series from the aforementioned channel over the last 15 years or so. The most recent of such series include "HAILEY DEAN MYSTERIES " RUBY HERRING MYSTERIES" and AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES.

MYSTERY 101 (not to be confused with MURDER 101) stars JILL WAGNER as college professor and amateur sleuth Amy Winslow, who along with some of her students and her father Graham Winslow, who also happens to be a renowned best selling author of fictional murder mysteries aid or sometimes hinder the Police and Detective Travis Burke in particular in solving murder mysteries in their home town.

The acting by all is pretty decent, the chemistry between the stars is genuine with the inevitable will they / wont they get together subplot between the leads and the mysteries while undemanding are a very enjoyable way for this crime buff to while away a couple of hours.

At the time of writing, 5 feature-length mysteries have been produced and released with another on the way. Having seen the first 3 so far I definitely give this series a big thumbs UP