Movie Review: Garage Sale Mystery - Murder in D Minor

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Enjoyable mystery and sub-plots

Cons: Usual Hallmark cheese

The Bottom Line:

Murder, treasure hunt

Come together in fun plot

Music to fan's ears

“Don’t Touch Anything.”  “What Am I, New?”

It's the final movie of Garage Sale Mystery month for 2018, and this time we are getting a musical theme with Murder in D Minor.  This month of movies certainly goes out on a high note.  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.  I guess Dr. Tramell is rubbing off on me.)

Karl Dietz has recently died, but even before he did, he was working with an estate auction company to sell off his many possessions.  He'd been quite successful in life, and had amassed a collection of treasures, enough to excite Jen (Lori Loughlin) and Dani (Sarah Strange), so they head to the auction to see what they can find for their shop.  While many people are there and bidding, Jen is able to get an old player piano.  It needs to be restored, but she knows that one of their regular collectors will gladly pay for it once it is in top shape.

Jen leaves it with her friend Dean (Jeff Joseph) for restoration work.  However, when she stops by a few hours later, she finds him lying on the floor and the front panel of the piano off.  With a list of people trying to buy it from her, Jen begins to suspect that there is more to this player piano than what it seems.  Can she discover the truth?

This is mystery adds a treasure hunt to the murder; in fact, that treasure hunt often seems to take over.  Yes, there is a murder, and Jen solves it, but she becomes engrossed in the hunt for whatever the secret is.  A bit of the premise was a familiar mystery story device, but the movie itself was still fun.  I never would have guessed where things would lead, including who the killer turned out to be.  The suspects have so many secrets, the movie keeps us guessing.

In the family sub-plot department, Hannah (Eva Bourne) is trying to tutor the college's star quarterback, who is about to be on academic probation.  Meanwhile, Jason (Steve Bacic) encourages Logan (Connor Stanhope) to make his basketball team his statistics project.  Neither storyline is particularly surprising, but it is always fun to see the rest of Jen's family.

Meanwhile, Dani's boyfriend gets a couple of scenes.  I notice that we haven't seen Hannah's boyfriend for a couple of movies now.  I had hoped we'd get more continuity than that, but on the other hand, she hasn't had any other romance, so maybe he will still be in the picture next time we get to check in with these characters.

This being a Hallmark movie, there's the typical cheese factor.  Fans don't seem to mind, however; I know I don't.

I've heard no official word on any more Garage Sale Mystery movies, so I don't know when we will get to visit Jen and the rest of the gang again.  That means we need to savor Murder in D Minor.