La société secrète

This is the best of the three Emma Fielding mysteries so far, but still not up to the standards of my three favorites (Hannah Swensen's, Aurora Teagarden and Mystery 101). I am enjoying the relationship building between archeologists/professor Emma Fielding and FBI agent Jim Conner. I appreciated this episode because it introduced a romantic rival in fellow archeologist Duncan Thatcher.

There is a special event at the university organized by Emma, bringing in a veritable who's who in the archeological world...at least in North America. Emma has invited her friend Jim Conner to give a talk on antiquity fakes. On the opening night, the key note speaker and president of the organization is murdered as a sub plot, one of Emma's students is trying to become a member of an elite skull and crossbones like organization. One of the initiation activities involves stealing an artifact from the archeology department.

As mentioned this is my favorite of the three Emma Fielding Mysteries, mainly for the romantic developments...but there has always been something slightly awkward about the Courtney Thorne-Smith role and in this episode I found the Duncan Thatcher character to be equally awkward, especially as his accent seemed to come and go. The series is really a recommendation for me unless you are hardcore or have nothing else to watch, but if you are watching the series...more bitter than death is the best.

Jim Conner scrubs up well in a smart suit, compared with his persona as the scruffy FBI agent of previous mysteries, but then he does have to up the ante if he wants to compete for Emma's affections with the suave archaeologist with the Savile Row rip-off tailoring and the dodgy British accent. Meanwhile, as usual, she is more than capable of fighting off the villain herself leaving the rivals literally on the floor yet dapper as before. The mystery is why Courtney Thorne Smith's Emma would even give Mark Valley's Duncan Thatcher a second glance when she can have James Tupper's Jim Conner - the down to earth real man with a taste for burgers and casual wear rather than the fake Englishman with his tux, faux accent and caviar.

Courtney Thorne-Smith is back once again as our female Indiana Jones, Emma Fielding and this time she's back at Kenzer College. During the course of a banquet some valuable art is ripped off and when it resumes the president of the college who is retiring collapses and dies at the podium.

The theft, the death of the president and some secret society like Yale's Skull And Bones are all interconnected, but not quite in the way you would think. Emma Fielding's young friend Adam DiMarco was thinking of joining the elite group, but finds them not worthy of his time and the members not worthy of his company.

FBI agent James Tupper is back as well to lend a bit of legality to Smith's sleuthing. Looks like the Emma Fielding series will go on.

Enjoyed it but Mark Valley has got to go. Get out of here with that stupid fake accent. Horrible. At first I thought he was joking with the accent. Then he spoke without it. Then with it. I thought he was just playing around. LOL He's just as bad as he was back when he played Jack on Days of Our Lives. Enjoyed the rest of the actors. I'm missing the Garage Sale Mysteries so much. Was my favorite. But these will do. Courtney is fun to watch.

Look... check your expectations before going into a movie like this. It's very light entertainment for sure and is full of holes but it does the job. Courtney Thorne Smith is a commanding lead and the supporting cast do well. These movies are a nice throwback to the 1990s and 2000s before Marvel came in and destroyed cinema forever.