Mistério das Palavras Cruzadas: Segredos Mortais

Most of us don't watch Hallmark movies expecting some great production. No, we watch them because we enjoy the actors and the characters they create. If the story is interesting then that is a bonus. We like Lacey Chabert, she always plays a likable character. As she does here, working for the New York newspaper and one of her ongoing responsibilities is the crossword puzzle. Seems when strangers meet her they always mention her puzzles.

One of her old friends is a history professor at a local college, as the movie starts we see that he is surprised at home and is found murdered. Then the movie flashes to "5 days earlier" and what we see are all the efforts to investigate the murder and find the guilty person.

The story is convoluted and interesting enough that it kept us entertained. As various people in his life became suspects I was surprised when the actual killer was revealed and the reasons why.

Streaming on Peacock, my wife and I watched it at home.

Cruciverbalist Tess Harper (Lacey Chabert) and police friend Logan (Brennan Elliott) team up to work on another murder mystery, this one involving a puzzle fan who has Tess work his proposal of marriage into her daily crossword.

The chemistry between Chabert and Elliott is always strong. Again, he tries to keep her away from his case, but she is too interested and too valuable, just like an Aurora Teagarden mystery. The two sleuths work the case from different angles, occasionally crossing paths to share clues.

A surfeit of suspects and a raft of red herrings keep the detecting duo guessing until the very end. Meanwhile, the dueling dicks keep any mutual attraction on the back burner, where it can smolderappropriately.

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.

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

I enjoyed movie as I do all the Hallmark Mysteries. The only thing that seemed odd to me was the murder victims mother wasn't the least bit upset that her son had just been murdered👎