Roux the Day: A Gourmet Detective Mystery

6/10 - an intriguing plot isn't as fleshed out as I would've liked, but it fits the bill for a HMM fix

This is the fifth and probably my favorite of the Gourmet Detective series, which turns the hallmark mystery genre around by having the male lead be the non-detective consultant.

"More than happy to return to my usual culinary work."-Henry

This episode is around a missing Chef's Book from the famous San Francisco institution Belvedere's Fine Dining. The restaurant has been closed for ten years and the chef's book has been missing for years. The mysterious chef's book is going up for auction. Our Gourmet Detective gets hired to determine the authenticity and bid for a client if it is real. Meanwhile, real detective Maggie is missing her daughter, Abby, who is in college and is excited about taking Henry to his first Giants game.

"No a Chef's Book. It's like a cookbook, but much more important and far more detailed."-Henry Ross

At the auction they find out it has been sold out from under everyone before the auction. The sale is private...but that doesn't stop a plucky food critic and young creole chef of the Creole Rooster. Helpful Maggie gets the buyer's info for Henry...in order for him to help his client. While they are bickering about Maggie needing a hobby, they discover a dead body in the buyers' antique shop. ...the chef's book is missing and the mystery is afoot!

"Chef's book! There is a difference!"-Henry.

Light, breezy, filled with good natured joking around. The Gourmet Detective is a fun watch on Hallmark Movies and mysteries.

I am frankly a little surprised how much I have enjoyed all five of these Gourmet Detective episodes.

It struck me as too much of a copy of the "Murder, She Baked". While I had no idea which show came first, it seemed like a bad idea to have two mystery shows, with such similar format. But I was ignoring what makes so many of these Hallmark mystery shows so enjoyable--the care taken in casting.

Dylan Neal and Brooke Burns are a terrific team. They are believable in their attraction to each other, and their care for each other. Equally they are believable in their different tastes, and their nettling of the other.

At the end of this episode, Henry's father, Jim (Bruce Boxleitner) remarks that they make a great detective team "like Holmes and Watson". Maggie humbly declines the comparison. Henry pipes in with "Beckett and Castle!"--a sweet nod to the former popular ABC detective show, that for my money, The Gourmet Detective compares very favorably to.

I love the gourmet detective series and was happy that they added another installment after a long break. Roux the day was the best of the series in my opinion. The relationship between Henry and Maggie is more developed and the mystery kept you guessing the whole time Hope to see many more in the future.

If you don't mind gaping plot holes, Gourmet Detective movies are usually fun. The leads have good chemistry and manage some decent dialogue. The mystery is interesting. I usually find it goes back and forth with enough complexity that I don't anticipate whodunit.

Unfortunately, perhaps more than some of the Hallmark whodunits, Gourmet Detective also usually has a few too many procedural issues. Apparently the writers never heard of the fruit of the poison tree, and break-ins by one or both of the leads are fairly common. The final perilous confrontation makes no sense since the first thing out of Maggie's mouth should have been to tell the villain what the people back at the station already knew meaning there was nothing left to hide. But then that would eliminate the token drama. Plus another illegal search and why were they there alone? Like I said, ignore the plot holes and the movie is fine.

There's a sweet surprise at the end that has nothing to do with the mystery, but adds another nice element to the personal stories.