The Deadly Room

Back in the day movie houses always had hidden rooms and staircases the better to serve the villain's nefarious ends. A house that's being put up for sale has one of those and a staircase. It also has a peephole into the bedroom for voyeurs or for some blackmail photography. The place had an unsavory reputation.

This all starts when Lori Loughlin's friend Janet Kidder borrows an antique statue for display in the house for buyers. To prove that there's no such thing as evil spirits haunting the place she has herself videotaped sleeping at the place. Kidder is the listed real estate agent and there's a lot of money riding on this for her. But it turns out her life was riding on it as well.

No one can figure it out, she's just dead. But Loughlin is fortunate to have a computer nerd son who helps immensely. But in discovering the how, she forgot the who.

Two things bothered me with this one. Forensics should have been able to find something and the 'souvenir' the perpetrator kept of the killing was the final nail on that coffin.

Not one of the better Hallmark mysteries.

Jenn suspects foul play when her friend dies in an old house with a cursed reputation. Even though police evidence - and even webcam footage of the death - point to natural causes - this mysterious death in a cursed" home poised for multi-million dollar sale seems too coincidental. Putting her keen instincts to work, she examines a few key suspects. As she digs into this deadly mystery, she uncovers clues that bring her closer to the truth, and even put her own life in danger.

There's a dead body but no signs of unnatural death, wounds and the live cam shows no killer in sight, which makes a unique feature in this excellent whodunnit. With the help of her son, Jenn gradually pieces together how her friend was murdered.

I've always loved movies with secret rooms and this one was not disappointing.

On the Eve of it's open house, news comes out that The Collins House is cursed and Jennifer's friend Adrian, who is the real estate agent plans on staying overnight in it on a live webcam to prove that it isn't. Only her plan backfires and Adrian ends up dead...live and on camera. Our intrepid purveyor of antiques Jennifer Shannon is determined to figure out what happened. This is a bit of a closed room mystery and a first in the garage sale mystery series based on books by Suzi Weinert, the third film in the series on Hallmark. It is also the first to start with a historical story, which seems appropriate for this antique heavy series.

Daughter Hannah has been recast and is now played by a Eva Bourne, otherwise the rest of the cast returns from the second film.

"I got it! Blow gun"-Dani.

The historic story involves a previous owner dying in the "deadly room" from typhus. There is a sub-story involving the son Logan and a Sadie Hawkins like dance. For some reason the daughter Hannah, who was going to lawschool in the first film, is suddenly working for her mom at their antique shop Rags to Riches.

Decent mystery and a recommendation from me...I think Cosy mystery fans will enjoy it.

7.1 stars.

I will give this particular story an above average rating, which means 7.1. An average movie for me is anything between 6.0 and 7.0, meaning I'll not make an effort to see it again. I will be fair and say 'The Deadly Room' is ever so slightly above average. Will I ever watch it again in my life, probably not, I have many bigger and better films to revisit in my remaining time on this planet. This is the first of the 'Garage Sale Mysteries' I've had the opportunity to critique. This is comparable to 'Crossword Mysteries' in quality, maybe a little better if I'm being honest. The other mystery series I've seen is 'Mystery 101', which is unquestionably superior to them both. I have several 'Chronicle Mysteries' and more 'Crossword Mysteries' to view, so for now - to be continued...