Mystery 101: An Education in Murder

8.2 stars.

I am beginning to get a little nervous because I just watched the 5th film, which I feel is the best one so far. Don't get me wrong, the first 4 films were all quite delicious little mysteries. I am simply dubious about nearing the end of the journey because there are some blatantly pessimistic opinions of the 7th film.

What's so gratifying about 'Mystery 101' is if you get a pen and paper and jot down all the minutia and press pause every 10 minutes or so, then try to figure out whodunnit, you will have a jolly good time of it. The writers were careful to leave breadcrumbs at every turn, and it's an exciting mystery expedition. A couple of the episodes seemed somewhat obvious, but most were like a jigsaw puzzle and I had a lot of fun. I had a hunch who the killer was in #5, but I couldn't make a case for this person until I started tallying each "insignificant" detail to form a complete picture. Looking back, I realized by the end of the 2nd film I was hooked. Now the 5th film is completed and I can honestly say this has scratched the mystery itch sufficiently enough that I have no need to grab a mystery novel neatly tucked in my bookcase between several other juicy mystery novels.

I've seen a few of the Hallmark mystery series, and some of the movies as well, and 'Mystery 101' is the best of the bunch so far. I'm writing this in April 2023, so who knows if something better has come along since. I just saw 'The Cases of Mystery Lane', which I found to be decent, but does not hold a candle to 'Mystery 101'. I haven't tried Aurora Teagarden because many of the reviews are dissuasive, however it sounds like I should watch at least the first several and then quit while I'm ahead (according to several critics).

I don't understand the negative assessments of 'Mystery 101', what are these nay sayers looking for? This show is well written and while it fits the same formula and contains most of the clichés, it retains its status as upper class Hallmark mystery pleasure.

Once again, the writers surprised me, I did not expect that ending, i'm talking both the guilty person and the final scene (you know). I'm so happy that even after 4 movies they still do. The flirting between Amy and Travis was amazing, all that bulding up was so worth it.

I hope that after Jill's pregnancy and this pandemic they continue giving us this series because it truly is enjoyable.

I'm writing this review because I was surprised that some people were not happy with the main character was actually expecting a baby. In Japan, nowadays many actresses and models do work right up until their doctors tell them not to work. Even back in the late 60's when my mother was expecting she was working till a weeks away from her due date. Unless, she was forced to work on a film project there's nothing wrong to work even as an actress. I feel Mystery 101's two main characters have good chemistry and the scripts are not too simple like other murder and mystery series on Hallmark channel. Please, continue filming this enjoyable mystery series!

I love the chemistry between the leads. I also love Amy's father. He is great in his role. As far as people being offended Jill was pregnant, good grief. This is not a romance novel but I didn't notice she was pregnant. I was actually concentrating on the words coming out of her mouth and her facial expressions. If you don't like to see a pregnant woman acting, just pretend she gained a little weight. Welcome to the 21st century!

I love Kristoffer Polaha in his romantic roles and he makes an even better police detective. I've grown to like Jill Wagner more lately as a veteran Hallmark actor. And these two have chemistry.

One of my pet peeves with amateur detectives is when they go off on their own and take reckless chances, but this series isn't too bad at this so I can relax and enjoy the mystery. Not to say that Amy doesn't come close to death two or three times in every installment, but that's required for this kind of drama.

I usually don't do well on figuring out who dunnit in these TV mysteries, but in this one, I was leaning toward the real culprit. There were some blatant red herrings and when one gave explanations I thought they were a little lame.

I really enjoyed this one. I wish it weren't so hard to keep track of the order if you don't catch them all the first showing or during a marathon.