Movie Review: A Case for the Yarn Maker - An Ainsley McGregor Mystery

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Compelling mystery, fun lead characters

Cons: A little low budget cheese, but a small dose of it

The Bottom Line:

Business exec dies

Setting off second fun film

You’ll be glad you watched

“My Jokester Brother Thinks Being Funny Is More Important Than Being Intelligent.”  “And My Sister Is a Nerd.”

I enjoyed the first Ainsley McGregor Mystery movie when it premiered on Great American Family just about a year ago.  I was hoping that the second, A Case for the Yarn Maker, would make its way to the channel at some point as well.  Fortunately, it made the leap from streaming to cable over the weekend because I enjoyed it.

Ainsley (Candace Cameron Bure) is leading an event to honor the 150^th anniversary of her town, Sweet River.  The featured guest at this event is Ellie Mitchum (Christine Upright) a local woman who founded a nation-wide yarn company.  Ellie is difficult from the moment she shows up, but she doesn’t come out of her room to give the talk.  Instead, she’s dead.  Now, Ainsley must work with her brother Ryan (Robin Dunne), the sheriff, and her boyfriend Jake (Aaron Ashmore), the fire chief, to figure out what is happening.  But can they do it?

Yes, I have to comment on the opening act.  We start with a couple few minutes that end with Ellie’s death, then flashback an hour.  Seriously?  We didn’t need the flashback.  Yes, it is a pet peeve.  But since we got Ellie’s death in real time at the first commercial break, I’m unsure why we needed the opening scene.

Okay, that’s out of my system.

I really did enjoy this movie.  We don’t have the awkward exposition to start things off we got with the first movie.  Instead, the writer gives us just enough context to remember who the characters are without trying to reestablish everything.  Even though I hadn’t watched the first movie in a year, I was quickly back in these characters’ world.

And what fun it is.  Ainsley, Ryan, and Jake are a great main trio.  Their joking and teasing of each other made me smile and laugh as I was watching.  The chemistry the three actors have really makes us believe their relationships.  We do also see Ainsley’s book club, and those were fun scenes as well.

Meanwhile, the mystery was solid.  Looking at the plot of the book, I’m wondering if this is a wholly original story.  Either way, it kept me guessing until the end with some great twists, suspects, and plot points.  Yet, everything made sense at the end.

Yes, the movie does have some of the low budget cheese I was expecting when I sat down to watch it.  A few of the performances and a few of the lines were to blame.  But it really was kept to a minimum.  If you watch these kinds of movies on a regular basis, it won’t bother you at all.

I really enjoyed A Case for the Yarn Maker, and I hope we get more movies in this franchise next year.  Meanwhile, I need to make time to start reading the books.