MatchMaker Mysteries: A Fatal Romance

Matchmaker Angie Dove (Danica McKellar) is on a panel at a romance convention. A romance writer on the panel is apparently poisoned. Angie starts investigating the murder with or without help from police detective Kyle Cooper (Victor Webster). This is the second Matchmaker Mysteries on the Hallmark Channel. Danica McKellar is adorable and a great lead for this type of light murder mystery series. I would want someone for her partner in crime solving. Quite frankly, they should use more Bruce Boxleitner. He may be past his prime but he still has his leading man looks. He's better than the detective and it would make sense for her father to be protective. It's fine for her to investigate alone but it could be better father-daughter fun. Like she says, she needs a Watson and Boxleitner is right there. Hallmark needs to get off the romance formula and look at what they have with clearer eyes.

Angie Dove (Danica McKellar) has been invited to moderate a panel at a romance convention being held in town. No, she hasn't started writing books of any kind, but she is so well known locally for her matchmaking TV show, she is a natural fit. This does put her back into contact with Ethan, her ex-boyfriend who has taken over a publishing company from his late mother. Among his authors are Beatrice Penn (Anne Marie DeLuise), a best-selling author with a huge fan base. She later dies from poisoning and there's a few suspects, one of them being Angie's ex-flame ... Motives and suspects are well-woven with the puzzle fitting place at the finale, not after much investigating from Angie. The actress who plays her is quite lively and charming, her chemistry with the detective isn't too strong. Plus he looks a little too lethargic, or maybe he's meant to be that way. This is otherwise a fairly lively mystery with a dollop of a light touch.

Our matchmaker gets asked to attend a romance convention, where an author ends up being poisoned to death. This brings Detective Kyle Carter and Miss Dove back together again. Miss Dove (Angie) also runs in to her ex-boyfriend who has come back to take over the family's publishing company post his father's passing. The sister, her estranged husband, and a heckling fan all become suspects in the author's murder. When her ex is brought in for questioning, Angie calls her father, former detective played by Bruce Boxleitner, and tries to get information out of Detective Kyle. Angie proceeds to start looking in to the killer, if only to help her former ex...this starts with looking for the mysterious enraged fan. "Angie, I don't think you should be meddling in an active police investigation." "Expectations can be like a blindfold. We can get so caught up in what we think we should have in a partner, that we close ourselves off to opportunities." "My mother always said she had a way with words, too bad you couldn't repeat most of them." "Romance can happen at any time." I like both of our main actors...but I am waiting to warm to their chemistry.

Danica and Victor are awesome. The set designer or whomever, for Hallmark, seems to make a HOBBY LOBBY run for flowers before the filming. The fake flowers are so fake. They are just randomly placed. It seems they are just placed in the ground, anywhere, all colors mixed together. Not realistic at all . Hallmark can do better than this. And this is in many of their movies.

Other than Danica McKellar our resident matchmaker and Bruce Boxleitner playing her father this Hallmark Mystery series has an entire Canadian cast in a series set in Philadelphia. In this story Danica is at writer's conference when one of the authors gets sick and dies. Poison is immediately suspected and confirmed. With a nice convention full of suspects the police settle on the victim's husband which McKellar refuses to believe. You then know he didn't do it, but there are many suspects left. In the end it's one close to the victim. I'm not sure how well this dating game scenario as a premise really works here. Weill see how the viewing public accepts it.

It was entertaining enough and of course the suspect with no obvious motive is the killer. I like the actors but not here. Zero chemistry maybe because it is only the second movie and they are supposed to be building up. The Mystery 101 series is much better written, suspenseful and portrayed. And Hallmark props... shame on you for the huge fake flower bushes from Michaels in the final scene.

DNF, but FF'd to the end. I couldn't stand it shortly after they arrested Angie's friend on totally circumstantial evidence no DA would take to court, but that was only part of the reason. I like Danica McKellar as a mostly humble lead in romance movies. In this movie she is not good. Her character annoyed me immediately.