Curious Caterer: Grilling Season

The Hallmark Series is so different from the books I loved. Richard was an abuser and Goldie hated him. Their child was a boy not a girl. Her best friend Marla, had also been married to Richard. They bonded over their mutual dislike of Richard.. She is chubby, very rich and loud. Tom is a huge, tall, heavy man. That's the worst casting. I so wanted Tom to be a big bear of a man but Hallmark must not have such an actor under contract!

I have to forget the TV show is based on the books to enjoy them. These shows are fun and well done but don't expect the books in any way. Watch them without expectation and you'll enjoy them.

This is a well done Hallmark mystery. The two leads are solid and writing is good. But the characters are changed too much from the books these stories are taken from. Goldy's ex-husband was an abuser. They did not have a friendly relationship in the books. It changes the reason Goldy gets involved in the mysteries. Also she had a son not a daughter. Changes feel of the story

It's bad enough that Goldy doesn't have blonde curly hair like Goldy Locks from the fairy tale but the actress is to tall and thin. Hallmark should have kept all the main characters similar for all the fans of the books.

Overall I enjoyed this movie however I did find it a little slower moving than the first one. I kept getting distracted by my phone. Probably because I kept looking away, I had trouble keeping straight some of the characters and their jobs and relationships. It was super obvious right in the beginning who did it and how, although I was caught up in the back story of some red herrings along the way.

I have not read the books and I can see why some might be put off with so many major changes. A movie is never going to be just like a book. I get why they need to do things like combine characters. And of course Hallmark is not where I look for some gritty drama about a former abused wife with an angsty, troubled teen or realistic police work. I can see, with a limited cast and future movies possibly planned, how it helps to have Goldy have a good relationship with Richard as opposed to him being awful. I'm fine that Marla and Richard never dated/were married as it seems they did in the books. Kind of yuck for Goldy to have married her best friend's ex or whatever timeline the book had them all together. Very glad they made that change.

Do I love that most actors on Hallmark, male and female, look like they haven't even seen a carb this century? No. Nor do I love the overuse of face injectibles, dated beachy waves, false lashes, men's facial scruff, etc etc. No, but that's Hallmark. Take it or leave it it seems. Funny enough, I'm working my way through the Whitstable Pearl books after watching the tv show. They did the opposite where the book characters look like models and the actors look like real people - I actually prefer the tv characters, but many reviews complained about that change. You just can't please everyone.

I was a little thrown off as to why Goldy wears long winter coats in almost every scene, including indoors. I thought the actress might have been pregnant but Wikipedia doesn't list any new kids. Was it that cold on the set? Anyway, looking forward to the next installment.

I gave this new series another shot after being very disappointed with the first one. I felt Andrew Walker was a bit more comfortable in his role in this one but the script was perhaps even worse. His ex-wife is so OTT and one cannot imagine them ever having been a couple. Even more so than Goldy and Richard.

This series seems even more unrealistic than most because there is no chemistry between any of the characters imo. If you enjoy them, you enter the worlds of the Mysteries and you accept them as written. You begin to recognize the town, the characters and their relationship to each other and it becomes a familiar place with familiar faces. The method of crime solving is predictable but fun and enjoyable.

This one still misses the mark and I have no idea who these people are and how and where they live. It doesn't seem to be the fault of the author as so many have raved about her books and are dismayed how far the series has strayed from her characters.

Something still hasn't clicked yet and they are immediately easy to forget.

I have been desperate for some new mysteries on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, I am really missing my favorites Hannah Swensen's Murder She Baked, Aurora Teagarden, and Mystery 101. So far this might be my favorite of the new mystery offering.

I understand these are based on a series of books by Diane Mott Davidson which I haven't read. Apparently, there are some significant changes like Goldie's ex-husband was an abuser, which makes more sense than what is being depicted in the series...where they are such good friends that I keep questioning why they are divorced?!?!? And that is another change from the books they have a son in the books vs a daughter in this series.

All of that aside, I think Nikki Deloach and Andrew W. Walker have great chemistry which is what really makes this series a much watch.

In this film, Goldie's friend is murdered after she caters her birthday party. Goldie looses catering jobs over suspicion until her ex-husband is arrested for the crime. It appears that he is being framed and it's up to Goldie and her friend Detective Tom Schultz to find the real killer.

This was a good mystery and so far I am enjoying the series, not quite as much as my three favorites...but I am not going to complain because I would like to see more mysteries produced.