Even for a TV movie this one should have been much better. The story is fair about a car wreck that kills a young actress who happens to be the New York City medical examiner's goddaughter. He suspects that the wreck was no accident. Just as in Roman times when poisoned mushrooms were called the "food of the gods" by palace conspirators so in "Recipe for Murder" mushrooms are suspected by the examiner to be the murder weapon. There are a few twists and turns along the way but by in large mainly a routine mystery yarn. What really hurts is the poor acting, especially by the lead Gary Basaraba whose histrionics distract from the cold hard facts of the case. He is not completely to blame. The writer put far too many words into his mouth. His parables become tiresome after awhile as does his fake accent.
The print I watched on television had poor lighting and the color appeared bleached. Otherwise the cinematography was OK for a TV movie.
Not a complete waste of time but with satellite television you should be able to find a much better mystery movie to watch.
