Cut, Color, Murder

I don't have a bad word to say about the actors in this new Hallmark mystery series. Gonzalo and McPartlin were just fine, and they had a good rapport. But boy oh boy was it dumb. This is a new entry in Hallmark's spunky female amateur detective line. They usually run their own "womanly" businesses so they can take off whenever one of their acquaintances or customers gets murdered to catch the killer. We have flower shops, book-stores, antique stores, and bakeries. We also have matchmakers(!?), wedding photographers, crossword puzzle editors, and podcast hosts. Strangely, in two of my favorites, Aurora Teagarden and Mystery 101, the spunky female amateur detectives actually have mainstream professions. With the arrival of Cut, Color, and Murder, we now have beauty shop owner. What took them so long?

In this one, Julie is taking her talents to the world of beauty pageants in which her younger sister is a participant and she is doing hair. The bitchy show runner gets murdered and there is plenty of suspects because she was evil to absolutely everyone. Julie is the widow of a policeman who was killed in the line of duty (or was it unsolved cold-blooded murder?). So she has ties to the police department primarily through the chief of police whom is she has wrapped around her little finger. Enter new guy, Ryan McPartlin, handsome hot shot detective who she butts heads with because he is a professional. After Julie meets an anonymous text-messager alone in a spooky abandoned house at night because he/she has info about her husband, it was remote throwing time. Except I had to find it first, because I had already thrown it after all the laws she broke and chain of evidence procedures ignored in the meantime. She is rescued from certain death by Ryan and lets just say this show leaves no cliche unincluded.

We know this is a series because after the mystery is solved we have a bit of a cliffhanger while Julie is having a pow-wow with her dead husband at the cemetery because she has decided to move on (is that something you just decide to do?). We know that there is going to be an over-arching mystery of her trying to solve her husbands murder and getting into all kinds of trouble. Not a spoiler, because I'm not psychic, but I predict that the murderer of her husband turns out to be the indulgent good-guy/father-figure/police chief many episodes hence.

And I thought Aurora Teagardens snooping was annoying. Wow ! This Hairstylist character is SO much worse. She steals info from police dept & then reveals it to suspects while shes asking them very invasive questions. She goes thru peoples drawers & takes photos, and illegally collects dna sample from someone. Shes the one doing all the investigating. And the Police Chief reveals a bunch of details to her and late he tells her shes "been a great help". What ?? The police would NEVER be able to use any of the "evidence" in court. She should be arrested for obstructing the course of justice ! Ugh !! Such a shame because I like the lead actors.

God Bless Hallmark for attempting to create interesting crime dramas, but the recurring theme is getting a bit worn out. First, there is a proprietor of a cupcake shop solving murders, then a Crossword writer doing the same, followed by a college lecturer outwitting the bland "professional" detective to solve crimes and now, a hair stylist who is the female version of Sherlock Holmes. I suppose that all of the police professionals did not take notes at the Academy nor have any time on the job. This latest drama follows the same formula, that is, a hair cutter (whose clients only need a trim and are in the chair for under two minutes), who lives in a very hospital-clean town and works in a beauty salon that never needs hair trimmings swept from the floor. On top of her brilliance, she is rude and snarky to the new detective, so you know that romance is in the offing! Also, everyone in the perfect town appears to be in the six-figure income bracket...no homeless, no graffiti, no cigarette buts on the ground in this Hallmark World. Plus, their private homes appear to be from the pages of House Beautiful. If you like perfect environments, cleanly scrubbed citizens and storybook tales, this is the series for you.

I gave it a chance, I think Ryan and Julie are both very talented and I've enjoyed their other movies and projects...but I didn't care for this mystery. I hope that it's not turned into a mystery series-especially when other mysteries were cancelled by the network with better storylines and ratings.

6/10 - the two leads in this one did not really do much to elevate this story in my opinion, but I am interested to see what happens with that cliffhanger.