Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop

Was expecting it to be a hallmark quality production but it was actually decent. Sure there not great actors and Kelsey grammer doesn't try anymore but it had a decent mystery and story going throughout. Not overly long or complicated, worth the watch for someone looking for a short murder mystery.

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.

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.

It's a slow mystery set in leafy rural England, similar to a lot of UK TV shows.

Quite predictable, but full of lots of good British comedy actors like Caroline Quentin. Kelsey Grammer is as watchable as ever.

This won't set your world on fire but it passed a pleasant 95 minutes for me.

This is a sweet little English mystery. It has some potential, but no surprises. I quite liked the actors.

Overall, the movie feels like it would be part of a series, yet not the FIRST one. I was puzzled by the many references to backstory not explained: antagonistic history with the psychiatrist, mentions of Miss Willoughby being a bit a sleuth, lack of details about the books she authored, the detective's reference to trouble often finding her. Initially, I thought there must have been a previous movie, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The lack of basic logic is hard to swallow. With a woman having hallucination and paranoia, who is also on medication, it seems like the first step would be to verify that the medication is what it should be. I'm also curious how such a well put together woman manages without a purse. She's wearing skin tight riding breaches. I suppose there are pockets in her jacket, although it's fairly tailored. Are the pockets large enough to hold keys, cell phone, hairbrush, extra makeup....the things we women usually carry around?