Francesca Quinn, PI

This should have started "It was a dark and stormy night..." Stiff dialog, usual closed loop of suspects/ victims. Lead woman should not be in this position. Others have over the top delivery, dramatic pauses obvious declarations of facts. Nice photography and scenes and being from Minneapolis the locations that fit it were fun to see but no Midwest accents to be found. I don't have a lot more to say but I may not be able to finish it in the first sitting. Having to fill out length here I would not recommend watching this if you have something else you'd like to watch from Hallmark. Just about anything.

I never wrote a review on IMDB before, but then, I've never watched a Hallmark channel movie that I spent more time on my computer looking at baseball scores, than time watching the movie. I liked Dylan Bruce in "A Novel Romance" and "The Christmas Promise" and Mallory Jansen in "On The 12th Date of Christmas" but if they make this movie into a series, I'll find something else to watch. I read on other comments, that Mystery 101 is cancelled, and possibly Aurora Teagarden too. If that's the case, there are lots of other channels for me to watch, including some without commercials, because I have never lost interest in a Hallmark movie as easily as I did on this one!

I understand wanting younger viewers (i'm 55) and needing edgier programming.

Why does edgy now mean bi*chy? Frankie, the main character treats everyone poorly but expects them to give her give her everything she demands! This seems to be a common theme in the newer Hallmark shows. A strong woman does not mean she has to be a bi*ch, wake up! But wait, half way through the show her personality completely changes. But by this time, I don't like her!

The acting is poor and everyone just forcefully reads their lines. It's the same acting mostly from everyone throughout the show.

Writing was poor and the explaination was confusing at the beginning of the show; weak and leaving a lot of questions.

My husband, (who does like many of Hallmark's previous series) could not stand the unjustly way the main character, Frankie, made you feel in the beginning either.

Thanks writers!

First, this movie is SUCH an improvement over"Cut, Color, Murder", and "The Curious Caterer "!!!

I think that it is a teaser for the solving of Travis and Amy's cliffhanger, and I'll bet a lot of Mystery 101 fans do as well.

The script's author has authored the 101 series too.

There's a strong father-daughter bond, a solid friendship between the father of the female lead, and the detective, and now a dead fiance.

Mallory Jansen and Dylan Bruce play their characters well enough, but the chemistry is not as strong as it is between Travis and Amy in Mystery 101.

Mallory's emotions and Dylan's don't seem to click as well. Maybe it's the line delivery.

This is an ok movie to watch more than once. There are lots of twists and nuances to revisit, although the way the background story is told tends to be a bit confusing.

Overall, while there are obvious teasers and parallels to Mystery 101, it can not vie as a replacement for, or take the place of, Mystery 101 as the top HMM Signature Movie Series/Franchise.

Hope Hallmark figures that out!

I was looking forward to this, although wasn't thrilled about getting into another series that would not go anywhere. Loved the Mystery 101 series. Would love to see more of them. Loved the Morning Show Mysteries, Aurora Teagarden, Hailey Dean., Fixer Up. So thought that maybe Hallmark finally had something to show. The female lead was not that believable. She had a few good moments. I watched it twice to see if I had missed something that explained everything. What was the motive behind the first 6 murders. Did this serial killer just start killing people at the school or had this been a pattern all her life? It was mentioned somewhere that the victims were criminals.... what was there crime? What was the purpose of starting in the middle of the story and never explaining the beginning? This might have had potential, but the writing/story was lacking.