Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop

This movie is better than any Hallmark Original that would come up with the same premise, and that is good enough for me to watch it till the end.

The chemistry between the two leads is believable, the pace of action does not stall once the 1st act is done, and the final act has enough surprises/turns to make the 95 previous minutes worth it.

Obviously intended to kickstart another TV 'cosy crime' series. Nathalie Cox is unfortunately both bland and cold as wealthy mystery solver Miss Willoughby, trained in military strategy and martial arts since childhood after the deaths of her parents (very 'Batman' - she even lives in a ridiculously large, isolated mansion); but co-lead Kelsey Grammer is as watchable as ever as her Alfred-like assistant/mentor, Robert. You'll probably see the solution to this paranormal head scratcher coming a mile away, but it passes the time well enough. Not sure I can see this becoming a hit franchise. 6/10.

Before I watched this film, I thought it's going to be unbearable seemingly this is some kind of low budget film. But I was amazed to see it turned out to be a watchable film. Yes, the story is simple and so plain, but the director somehow managed to make it not to feel bored. I wasn't feeling bored while I was watching it even though I was kind of feeling sleepy. I woke up completely after 15 minutes of watching this film because it seemed to be interesting and I enjoyed the whole thing.

Anyway, it was fun and I kind of had good time with this film. Although this film is doing okay and watchable, if the story was better than now, it'd be more interesting and I might give it more stars.

I'm not quite sure why this movie got so many negative reviews and comments. It could just be that they do not understand British humor and television. In my opinion this has been a completely brilliant British whodunit. Kelsey Grammer is excellent and his role. The lead actress is likable and interesting. It has your typical British humor and mystery.

Don't give it a negative review simply because you don't understand or like British humor because as a mystery it's pretty good.

Personally I hope they make more movies together as they had excellent on screen chemistry. It reminds me of a type of Agatha Christie and Murder She Wrote.

Being an Anglophile, I was thrilled to see that this was filmed in England. I'm a sucker for a British Estate.

Anyway, I am glad I stuck with this. It started out a tad slowly but it held my interest. At first though I didn't even realize that Kelsey was playing the older version of the guardian who took over the young girl's tutelage after her parents' passing. I had to look at the IMDB cast credits to get it straight.

The lead actress playing the adult version (whose parents passed away) had a nice rapport with Kelsey. Her fascination with martial arts classes at the film's outset was confusing though. Apparently, it coincided with her education and interests reflected in the young girl's reading material shown early on.

Overall, it was a tidy little film that I feel could have been bolstered with more suspense and/or thrills to be a true "haunting." Kelsey was the only actor with whom I was familiar but the rest of the cast kept up with him.