Mystery 101: Words Can Kill

College professor Amy Winslow (Jill Wagner) enters her office when a masked person knocks her down running past her. She calls her police detective friend Travis Burke (Kristoffer Polaha) but nothing seems to be stolen. The college is hosting a book festival where her father is a key speaker although he's not happy that his hated rival had rented a booth. His police friend Phil Jenk from Reno PD arrives with a suspicious note.

The character Betsy Crane is being too broad although I do like the Phil Jenk character. He's playing both faces which makes him a good suspect. I like the Who What dichotomy which serves to put up a structure for the investigations. Hallmark mysteries can be bland. One grades on a curve sometimes. This is better than most and it's a good one from the series. It's good as a TV mystery movie.

Amy and Travis are back in our screens! I love this duo. They work good together, they are fun, and their flirty banter is the best! I wish their relationship keeps growing ad getting stronger.

I think this movie was a little more complex than the previous two. It was difficult to guess who the guilty person was. Every guest character is guilty at some time and it throws you off.

One detail bothered me: Amy walking through the crime scene in her high heels? IN THE GRASS? She didn't even put on those bags on her feet, or at least a pair of trainers... and then in the next scene Travis literally says: "We need to do it by the books" I just found that funny.

Let's agree that the real hero of this movie was the front desk lady at the hotel.

This was one really good film, but right from the get-go, my curiosity got the best of me and I started placing my bets. Sure as hell, I was right about one person in the end. It was definitely worth watching from start to finish to see it unfold, but it was really funny how the innocent look so damn guilty.

Words Can Kill is the fourth Hallmark mystery movie I've watched recently. In Words Can Kill, Professor Amy Winslow (Jill Wagner) is responsible for putting together a mystery writers' convention. Her father, Graham Winslow (Robin Thomas), Is set to be the star of the show. But when his previous publisher is found dead, Graham becomes a key suspect. Amy will move mountains to prove her father is innocent.

As I continue to roll through these Hallmark mysteries, they just keep getting better and better. Maybe I've gotten lucky and accidentally picked the good ones, but whatever, I'm really enjoying the movie journey I'm on. I had great fun with Words Can Kill. The plot has some nice twists and turns, culminating in a very satisfactory conclusion. This one kept me guessing right up to the end (even though I really should have spotted the killer from a mile away). The growing relationship between Amy and Detective Burke is another highlight. Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha are solid. And I was impressed with Robin Thomas as Amy's father. Given a larger role in this film, he excelled.

I can't write one of these without listing a few of the problems I had with the movie. Without going into detail: several one dimensional characters, standard mystery tropes, and some iffy acting. But it's easy for me to overlook these weaknesses given how much I enjoyed the rest.

Finally, one of the things I like about these movies is how much they remind me of the mystery novels I grew up reading, with similar plots, similar pacing, and similar reveals. The movies have that mystery novel "feeling" - nothing heavy or groundbreaking, just entertainment and escape.

7/10.

It starts with a masked intruder knocking College professor Amy Winslow (Jill Wagner) as he runs past her. She calls her police detective friend Travis Burke (Kristoffer Polaha) but nothing seems to be stolen. She is then sidetracked by college book festival where her father is a key speaker. He isn't too happy that a rival is also attending. Then a guest at the college book festival is killed, Amy and Travis clash after he arrests an unlikely person for murder. Amy must fight to prove he's got the wrong person behind bars.

The beautiful Jill Wagner and Kristofer - the leads - have a great chemistry, which what makes this Hallmark mystery so watchable, and the mystery itself is quite good, there's plenty of hooks in the plot, all designed to keep you watching. With Hallmark/Lifetime films, you either love 'me or hate 'em, but I'm with the former. Of course, there's varying qualities to good, average and not so good. Words can kill is one of the good ones.