To Catch a Spy

Chloe Day (Nathalie Kelley) is a busy writer for Destination Traveler Magazine. Her next job is to cover the newly renovated Hotel Optima in Malta. There are noises coming from the vent in her room. She hears a struggle and a man falls to his death. She searches for help and knocks on one of the rooms where FBI agent Aaron Maxwell (Colin Donnell) happens to be staying. When they reach the landing spot, the body is gone and the local police is dismissive of her.

The tension would be heightened if Chloe is traveling by herself. A woman alone feels more dangerous. She also needs more time with Aaron. This is Hallmark after all. They need to be coupled ASAP. The movie needs to amp up the romance since the mystery isn't much of one. The suspect is suspicious right from the start and never stops. While I like the complete randomness of her knocking on his door, I do wonder if she should have an earlier scene of them meeting and give her a reason to seek him out for help. On the other hand, the initial mystery of the dead man is great and I have no reservations about that. In fact, that should be earlier and all the spy stuff at the beginning is unnecessary. It's good enough to start the mystery without any priming of the pump. It's also cool to be in Malta. It's exotic enough to be interesting but bland enough for Hallmark. This could be a ongoing series but I don't see the FBI recruiting a travel writer. It would work better if he's in the CIA and they need a low-level off-the-books connection who has a reason to travel the world. The series could go to everywhere.