Chronicle Mysteries: The Deep End

6/10 - still not the best, but a noteworthy upswing in the Chronicle Mysteries series

Instead of going back over a cold case as was done in the previous season crime podcaster Alison Sweeney is covering a current murder case involving an estranged couple. The two were going through a bitter divorce when the husband is found dead in a pond on their estate. At first it is thought to be an accident, but then the wife is arrested and charged with his murder.

Sweeney is covering the trial and she starts to believe the wife innocent. So she and her podcast team of Benjamin Ayres and his daughter Olivia Steele Falconer go to work.

The deceased was popular in the country club set and he was hiding assets which many do during divorce proceedings. He also had a number of interesting sidelines. It was one of those that got him killed.

This Chronicle Mystery was pretty good and I guessed the sideline, but not the suspect. I think you will too.

Stephanie Burke is currently on trial, charged with the murder of her ex-husband, Elliot Burke. Alex hears about the case because her friend, Katie Wyer, is serving as Burke's attorney. Elliot was found face down in the deep end of the lake behind their property, and the circumstantial evidence could be enough to put Stephanie behind bars. The trial is already past the first week, and after getting a chance to talk with Stephanie, Alex wonders if there's more to this case than meets the eye.

The two leads make this watchable as they try to solve a case, but it's rather slow-paced and a little too average. It's not engaging enough, though it's good to see the romance between the leads beginning to ocur.

Like another reviewer, I wish Drew would pick up the pace a bit with Alex. The shy looks between them belong more to his daughter and prospective beau than to these two. Who are the ones in high school?

I agree with a different reviewer that going to trial with this woman was ridiculous. No DA would proceed with zero evidence beyond a contentious divorce and the prosecutor would have to provide what was known about time of death as one of the first things. So there would have been no reason for the neighbor's wife to be questioned such that she reveals that the accused returned later that night. And where was Alex in the weeks or even months (sometimes years) leading up to the trial? But a TV court drama has to go down to the wire so that the heroine walks into court and gives the defense what she needs minutes before time runs out. I was surprised that the writers did acknowledge the problem with introducing evidence without advising the prosecutor in advance. Even so, the defense attorney didn't follow proper procedure and should have know better. She says something that acknowledges that she's aware of the other suspects, so she also should have had to be notifying the prosecutor of that evidence as they uncovered it. The chaos that follows her last minute questions also should never have happened. That lawyer strikes me as not very good. And why wasn't the key page of "the book" saved into evidence rather than having to rely on a video of it? Failure to preserve evidence is a big no-no and that page definitely should have raised red flags.

The detective work was decent. Our heroes weren't even threatened by the police for interfering as in so many of these shows. I had no idea who did it.

Alex's mom and Drew's daughter provided small but interesting side stories.

As a whole, the movie wasn't a waste of time, but also not one of the better entries in this franchise. If the writers had tightened up some of the flaws in court procedure, it would have been less distracting.

There's good chemistry between the two leading characters, so move this along a little faster! I like both of them. In some of the Hallmark portfolio, the female lead is annoying as possible. This cast are all appealing. I enjoyed the mystery aspect, but the criminal was definitely a surprise. I also like the storyline that doesn't include a "falling out" with each other and then a last minute reconciliation! I just think the romance could move along a little faster. They seem to suit each other well, and are appealing as well. Supporting characters make for a good ensemble cast. Looking forward to future episodes.