Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder

This is my first dip into Hallmark Mysteries.

I was familiar with Lacy Chabert from somewhere, but not Brennan Elliott.

Given the acting role resumes for both Lacy and Brennan, I would expect them to work together well, and they do. They are believable as a pair who respect and exasperate each other.

And with the overused plot device of the professional male detective versus the intuitive and spunky female amateur, Brennan and Lacy so far make it work better than many other mystery shows.

Of the two Crossword Mysteries I have watched so far--"A Puzzle to Die For" and "Proposing Murder"--I would rate "Proposing Murder" higher. I found it slightly more believable, and more "puzzling".

As someone who enjoys working crossword puzzles myself, I like the conceit that Tess could transfer her skill in creating crossword puzzles into solving crime. I smiled at the end of this episode, when Tess teasingly asks Logan, "So, are we a team yet?"

Seen a few of this series(?). Really nice. Good to see Lacey again.

It wasn't quite as good as the pilot film, of course. But, as I stated elsewhere, first sequels rarely equal the first film. In this case, the only minor flaw is that the true culprit becomes pretty obvious early on. For anyone who's spent the last twenty years watching MURDER SHE WROTE re-runs, anyway!

6/10 - good second installment in the new Hallmark series

Lacey Chabert the crossword puzzle editor and creator of the crossword puzzles of a fictional NYC newspaper despite homicide detective Brennan Elliott's best efforts to keep her out is invaluable in his latest case.

The murder Elliott is looking to solve is that of Kyle Buchanan a friend of Chabert's aunt Barbara Niven. No way she's keeping out of this.

The late Mr. Buchanan a writer was working on a book about code names for World War 2 operations from all countries. Chabert figures out his code expertise is what got him into a modern treasure hunt.

Her work at creating crossword puzzles makes her a natural codebreaker. It's the cops who are having trouble keeping up with her.

Nice story with a bit of a surprise in the end.