Squeaky Clean Mysteries: Hazardous Duty

I don't know about the book series because I have not read any of them. But from what I observed watching this TV movie, I found the characters extremely cheesy and mostly stupid.

The detective was totally clueless, and miraculously an ordinary crime scene cleaner happened to be an excellent amateur sleuth, and her neighbor/romantic interest happened to be a lawyer who suddenly became her Batman's Robin.

Oh yes before I forget, the neighbor/romantic interest Mr. Riley Icringe crringe) was absolutely annoying. I don't know if it is his natural personality in real life also, but I have seen in another TV Lifetime Movie where he plays a fireman who also in that movie creeps into the protagonist's life.

Anyway this was one of the worst if not the worst whodunnit TV movies I have ever seen!

I typically consider imdb ratings before watching a film. This one was waaaay offfff.

No way this could be better than 4 unless the reviews are stacked.

Smaller budget films can be alright, but this is not one of those. The idea was good but the execution unbearable due to: Intolerable acting Stiff scripts Inexperienced extras Forced chemistry Awkward kissing Predictable plot Stupid ending I actually hoped the main heroine character would get killed and the murderer would get away, just because it was so bad.

At one point I was dubbing Mystery Science style to make this piece of crud somewhat entertaining.

The only plus is the actual storyline was decent.

Let's see...a supposed semi-brilliant female lead with amazing sleuthing skills, a weenie and mostly unlikable male lead who just happens to be an attorney, an air-headed and screechy sidekick, a grumpy lead police investigator, a loveable father figure etc etc. Same tired recipe, just a different cake. I had hopes in the very early going something good might come of all this, but no such luck. Absolutely horrid acting by cast of totally forgettable actors. I also must agree with the earlier reviewer about so many simple and unnecessary mistakes. For one, in addition to the poor cleaning techniques already listed...an unsecured security room...gimme a break. I'm giving it a 3 star rating, but only because I also like the setting.

The books are great - funny, intense, well written, and the characters have depth. This movie has absolutely none of the humor, and the characters have no personality at all. The producers of the movie removed everything interesting that made the books enjoyable. If you want an enjoyable and quirky mystery, read the books or do the audio book, but don't waste your time on this very terrible adaptation. I hope they paid the author well to completely screw up her book and make people think the book will be just as stupid as the movie. They did a disservice to the author of the original books because anyone who saw the movie first would bother with the books, and there's a whole series of "squeaky clean" suspense novels with great characters and decent plots.

The reviewers who are wedded to the books must not realize that movies change details, some DRASTICALLY, all the time. (I can just hear them if any of them had actually read the original Perry Mason books before they watched the Perry Mason TV series--they'd be in an uproar even worse than they were here.) Just because they finally found a movie that apparently insulted their unique pet book series is no cause for besmirching a movie that was entertaining on its own merits. Was it a great film? No, but it was good. Jessica Blackmore was quite entertaining in my book, and I'd jump on the chance to see her in another one of these stories. Folks, if you are a movie watcher who just might not be a reader of the books this film was apparently based on--I never read them and don't plan to--but would like to watch a cute mystery/romance, then watching this one will NOT be a waste of your time, despite what the book purists are crying about.