“This Feels Like Old Times.” “We’re Back!”
I never thought I’d be doing this, but I’m sitting down to review another Garage Sale Mystery. The long running Hallmark mystery franchise had been canceled when star Lori Loughlin got caught up in the college admission scandal. In fact, one of the movies was stopped mid-production and the finished one that hadn’t aired yet quietly debuted without too much fanfare a year later. So I did a double take when I saw a new movie in the franchise, Murder Takes the Stage, was premiering this past weekend. It was good to be back with the characters again.
Almost everyone is back for this movie, too. The only character/actor missing is Jay Brazeau who played the pun loving coroner Dr. Tramell. Okay, so Eva Bourne’s Hannah is essentially given a cameo, but I’ll take it. After all, it’s been a few years, and that is reflected in both of the kids’ lives. Hannah is off studying for the bar exam, having finished law school. Younger brother Logan (Connor Stanhope) is in college, but locally, so he still gets involved in mom Jennifer’s sleuthing.
In the years since we’ve last seen her, Jennifer Shannon (Lori Loughlin) joined a murder mystery book club. The club also puts on reenactments of famous crimes to raise money for the local food bank. Their latest reenactment is of the Lizzie Borden story, and the debate between those who think she was guilty vs. those who think she was innocent is threatening to unravel the entire production.
But when Jennifer finds one of the actors in the production dead, things take an unexpected turn. She’s sure it is someone else in the cast, but can she figure out which one it is?
As much as I was happy to see the characters again, I’ll also admit this was never a favorite franchise of mine. Oh, I’ve watched them all, but I usually struggle with some aspects. Like in this one – why are they putting on this play in a house? And a bed and breakfast at that. It means the various scenes are taking place in other rooms. And why is a mystery book club putting on true crime stories? Heck, for that matter, is this a fictional book club or a true crime book club? Given Jennifer’s knack for solving mysteries, I could see it going either way.
Despite my issues with the setup, I did feel the mystery was well done. We had several motives and red herrings that kept me guessing until Jennifer pieced everything together. You’ve got to ignore how much Detective Frank Lynwood (Kevin O'Grady) defers to Jennifer. It’s not remotely realistic. Just go with it and enjoy.
Something else that hasn’t changed in this franchise is the liberal dose of low-budget cheese. You can’t escape it here. But if you are watching a Hallmark movie, you’re probably expecting it, right?
This was a very popular Hallmark mystery franchise, so I’m sure I’m not the only one who was happy to see it revived. If you are a fan of the Garage Sale Mysteries, you’ll enjoy Murder Takes the Stage.
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