Movie Review: Dead Over Diamonds - Picture Perfect Mysteries

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters, good mystery

Cons: Usual Hallmark cheese

The Bottom Line:

Diamonds go missing

How did they lead to murder?

Fun mystery film

A Theft Leads to Murder

I’ve been looking forward to a second Picture Perfect Mystery since the first one premiered last year.  Allie Adams and Sam Acosta finally returned with Dead Over Diamonds, and it was worth the wait.

Photographer Allie Adams (Alexa PenaVega) has been hired to photograph a gala at the art gallery designed to show off the collection of a local man, and has everything from paintings to photographs and even a valuable necklace.  However, before the night is over, the necklace has been stolen.

Naturally, Detective Sam Acosta (Carlos PenaVega) is on the case.  But it isn’t long before a dead body turns up.  Can Sam and Allie figure out what is happening?

This movie also introduces us to Sam’s uncle Luis (Erik Estrada), who adds a lot of fun to the proceedings.  I don’t remember either main character having family in the first one, so this adds the necessary family member to the typical Hallmark mystery movie formula.  (Not saying I don’t enjoy the formula, but it is rather obvious.)

This movie has a good mystery.  There were plenty of suspects to keep us guessing.  I’ll admit I fell for the obvious solution for too long until things really began to unfold.  By the time we reached the end, I found all the twists logical and the clues finally made sense.

We also get some serious character development for Sam.  I don’t remember learning much about him in the first one, but here he gets a pretty serious backstory that I’m sure it going to play out over the course of several movies.  I’m curious to see how it is all going to unravel.

Yes, this is a Hallmark movie, so it has the usual dose of cheese.  I seem to notice it more when I watch one of these movies after a few weeks off, so I felt like there was a bit more present here.  Still, if you know about it going in, you’ll get so caught up in the story that you won’t mind.

It comes back to the characters for me.  I like Allie and Sam, so I enjoy spending time with them.  The rest of the regulars are fun as well.  I certainly hope that Uncle Luis becomes a regular.

A third movie is in the works and slated for May.  That gives you plenty of time to catch Dead Over Diamonds.  It’s a fun mystery you’ll enjoy.