Nelly Knows Mysteries: A Fatal Engagement

This is the best Hallmark mystery in years! Dare I say it this film is right there with Aurora Teagarden, Garage Sale, Flowershop, Murder She Baked (old ones).

First of all it's a Hallmark mystery so there goes logic and reality. It's a given that a police officer doesn't arrest the nosy lady that meddles with the investigation. It's a given that a woman who writes a column for a local paper in a small town can afford a big house and a nice car. The list goes on, and on, and on...

The thing that matters in this films is charisma of the protagonist and the chemistry between two leads. And there's plenty of that. Nelly had everything to annoy the hell out of me, and yet she didn't. Her upbeat personality is actually fun to watch. Yes, she's TOO MUCH, but I really believed she was like that. Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith do work great together! That banter is funny, natural, and not forced!

The town is quite nice and cozy, but sometimes traffic seems to be too much. Anyway the setting is lovely. Not my favourite, but I'm ready to see it again.

The mystery is OK. Not brilliant, but OK. Of course there are goofs and inconsistency. But again: I expect it from a Hallmark mystery. But mostly I expect a cozy mystery with cute leads that will make me smile. This film did make me smile (even laugh!). Brilliant installment, make more of them. Ditch the singing Jane, True justice, fake K-9, fake Aurora, etc. They are really bad, this one is actually well written, and the actors are magical together.

Nelly is the town of Babelton's local newspaper's beloved advice columnist. She is played by the lovely Pascale Hutton, who fast talks and sweet talks her way through solving the small town murder after she stumbles upon the body. The new to town Detective Michael is played by Hutton's When Calls The Heart husband Kavan Smith. These two are gold together. Nelly is not only observant, but knows the town of Babelton (and everyone in it) like the back of her hand. She's positive, upbeat and dogged which convinces DetectiveMichael to eventually throw in the towel and try to work with her instead of compete with her.

My favorite two scenes take place in Helen's diner between Nelly and Michael...in the first Michael joyfully eats pancakes for dinner and in the second we are told the story of the death of Nelly's childhood sweetheart and fiancé in the explanation of how her positive outlook is a choice. That was the most humanizing part of this relatively lighthearted mystery. I liked the colors and I loved the jazz music that accompanied the mystery. It came across as a little campy and I loved it.

It looks like this might be the start of a new series and I for one would tune in for more. This is a recommendation from me to Hallmark mystery series fans.

What I liked:

• Tight script that was quick witted and pretty funny
• Great set design!

• Fun secondary characters. This was actually one of the best parts.

• Loved the old school feel throughout. Very 1950s vibe in dialogue cadence and style.

• Mystery was decent. Not the best but kept me guessing.

What I didn't like:

• Romance was meh. More like a friendship which was fine but even there it was lacking a bit.

• Musical score could have been better. The closing song was perfect for the vibe and wish they used more of that throughout

Overall this was a really fun mystery which I feel is a bit underrated based on its current score. Solid 8 on the Hallmark cozy mystery scale for me. Definitely different feel from most cozy mystery offerings.

This is a delightful new mystery from Hallmark and I hope it turns into a series.

At first I worried that the Nelly (Pascale Hutton) character was way OTT but her acting and consistent positive energy grew on me and was charming.

She lights up every scene and has great chemistry with seasoned actor Kavan Smith who plays the new detective in town.

She is the advice columnist at the local rag who "knows" everything. Suspecting a situation arising from a letter she receives, she goes off to investigate.

This is quite a silly story but with great chemistry between the lead actors and everyone blends well in the ensemble cast. It made me smile which is what I want from a Hallmark movie.

The story is full of holes, blatant red herrings and implausible situations but that's expected from a Hallmark Mystery This one has more than its fair share but delights nonetheless. It zips along at a great pace so I forgave a lot of the silliness and bad dialogue in lieu of lighthearted banter and great rapport.

I haven't seen "When Calls The Heart" so I've never seen these two lead actors romantically linked but the fact they are so comfortable with eachother really works well. Some reviewers see it as a rom-com with a touch of mystery but I actually loved that there wasn't the obvious emphasis on their possible romantic engagement. I found it refreshing that they just hit it off and worked so well together without obvious hints of romance. Like "Mystery 101" I suspect a slow burn.

In fact, this movie has very similar enjoyable energy to that excellent series and, in addition to Nelly's perky investigative nature, Micheal also strikes the perfect balance between investigative and quiet strength and being indebted repeatedly to Nelly. His being new in town and a bit insecure around the town sheriff plays well into this dynamic and he does have a way of nicely putting her in her place which she happily acknowledges but pretty much ignores. She does genuinely appreciate it though and always promises to do better... unsuccessfully.

As other reviewers have mentioned, her interfering, energetic, busy body role is very similar to Ro's in Aurora Teagarden Mysteries and I could often hear the same dialogue and recognize her insistence on approaching anyone with questions as if a detective. But even though her character is OTT, she's such a delightful, refreshing change from the irritating, over acting Candice Bure.

Unlike the dreadful, new Curious Caterer Mysteries where Andrew W. Walker's character is weak, disheveled and boring and she ridiculously and aggressively runs the whole investigation, there's the perfect balance here and they are great together.

The final delight for me was that these two actors can really act. Lately, the new Hallmark movies are featuring irritating characters who garble their lines and all act the same way. I have to use the closed captions with so many of them and can't imagine how they got cast and why the director accepted it. This whole movie was entertaining, fast paced, funny and well directed and acted by all.

Nelly Parker (Pascale Hutton) is an advice columnist in a small town called Babbleton, who one days receives a letter about someone worried about their boyfriend cheating so, knowing everyone, she heads to the guy's house only to find him dead. We meet newcomer Michael Hogan (Kavan Smith) who is given the chance to lead the case.

So, like in every mystery you have the meddlesome "consultant" who immediately jumps to the case, helping the detective with it (he doesn't even have the chance to say no), captivated by her and her knowledge of the whole town. We also have a lot of people putting their noses where they don't belong, crime evidence and scenes being tampered with. Nothing new for a Hallmark mystery.

At times, they kinda of reminded me of Rosemary and Lee in When Calls the Heart: Rosemary is always looking for the truth and Lee just goes wherever she goes.

I'm not gonna pretend and say this is the best movie of the year because it's not but I would watch Pascale and Kavan together in about everything. The chemistry and friendship they have goes beyond the screen and it's such a pleasure to watch.

Whoever decided to cast them together knew what they were doing!