Mystery 101: Words Can Kill

Amy and Travis are back in our screens! I love this duo. They work good together, they are fun, and their flirty banter is the best! I wish their relationship keeps growing ad getting stronger.

I think this movie was a little more complex than the previous two. It was difficult to guess who the guilty person was. Every guest character is guilty at some time and it throws you off.

One detail bothered me: Amy walking through the crime scene in her high heels? IN THE GRASS? She didn't even put on those bags on her feet, or at least a pair of trainers... and then in the next scene Travis literally says: "We need to do it by the books" I just found that funny.

Let's agree that the real hero of this movie was the front desk lady at the hotel.

Big doings over at the college where Jill Wagner teaches, there's a College Book Festival going on and a bunch of writers are coming. But the college's own Robin Thomas is the real star of the show. He taught the class in mystery writing that his daughter Wagner teaches now.

For all these professional sleuths three murders happen during the course of the event. A stalker, a publisher, and a rival of Thomas's in many things from the old days.

There are as usual no shortage of suspects. But one of these three does not fit with the other two. Once the team of Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha figure that one out, the solution for the other two takes a quantum leap forward.

A good one for this series.

So far this is my favorite Mystery 101. I have seen 3 now. I kind of picked out the who dunnit early but then you question things more and things definitely were not as they seemed. There was nothing obvious about all the goings ons that really happened. When they wrap it up and show what happened... you have that ahhhhhh moment. My only complaint was wardrobe put Jill in sage green outfits too many times. The final navy/magenta plum combo was refreshing and lovely.

College professor Amy Winslow (Jill Wagner) enters her office when a masked person knocks her down running past her. She calls her police detective friend Travis Burke (Kristoffer Polaha) but nothing seems to be stolen. The college is hosting a book festival where her father is a key speaker although he's not happy that his hated rival had rented a booth. His police friend Phil Jenk from Reno PD arrives with a suspicious note.

The character Betsy Crane is being too broad although I do like the Phil Jenk character. He's playing both faces which makes him a good suspect. I like the Who What dichotomy which serves to put up a structure for the investigations. Hallmark mysteries can be bland. One grades on a curve sometimes. This is better than most and it's a good one from the series. It's good as a TV mystery movie.

It starts with a masked intruder knocking College professor Amy Winslow (Jill Wagner) as he runs past her. She calls her police detective friend Travis Burke (Kristoffer Polaha) but nothing seems to be stolen. She is then sidetracked by college book festival where her father is a key speaker. He isn't too happy that a rival is also attending. Then a guest at the college book festival is killed, Amy and Travis clash after he arrests an unlikely person for murder. Amy must fight to prove he's got the wrong person behind bars.

The beautiful Jill Wagner and Kristofer - the leads - have a great chemistry, which what makes this Hallmark mystery so watchable, and the mystery itself is quite good, there's plenty of hooks in the plot, all designed to keep you watching. With Hallmark/Lifetime films, you either love 'me or hate 'em, but I'm with the former. Of course, there's varying qualities to good, average and not so good. Words can kill is one of the good ones.