Mystery 101: Playing Dead

Opening scene, hours before dawn, abandoned downtown streets, a lone lady jogger comes across broken glass of a closed store, glances at her phone to check the time, and then ...

does what? Dial 911 on her phone? NOPE! She does something dumb. And she's a COP!!!

Amy is working as the dramaturge on a play when lead actress Bella Brightman's life is threatened by two accidents that occur in the theatre. As Travis and Amy look into these incidents, Bella suddenly dies of a heart attack leading Amy to suspect foul play. When Amy and Travis investigate, they discover that a series of burglaries in Garrison, including one that resulted in Claire being injured, may be linked to Bella's death.

Another absorbing mystery with some fine suspects, neat twists, a toy monkey at a burgled shop which is linked to the murder of an actress, secret love letters, and a cracking chemistry between the leads. Their banter is catchy. A nice escapist mystery with a light touch.

Pathetic writing. Filled with interfering with an investigation, trespassing, illegal searches and inadmissible evidence. Perpetrators would walk in real life.

Kudos to the casts' performance but specially to the writers! The plot was so unpredictable in a way that it's hard to guess what will come next. Like the first episode, I couldn't guess the bad guy until the very end. Jill and Kris did it again. The back and forth bantering between them was so much fun to watch. But I'm glad that this episode has a little bit more rom-com between Amy/Travis and Claire/Bud as well. I hope such rom-com continue to all future episodes. It makes mysteries fun! Way to go Hallmark!!!

This show is always teaching me something new, this time Dramaturge.

In this, the second entry in Hallmark's Mystery 101 series Amy,our professor turned crime solving consultant, is the dramaturge for a local theater's mystery play production. While consulting the main actress has several attempts taken on her life. Meanwhile there are break ins occurring in downtown Garrison, Washington, the latest of which is the local pharmacy where the thief used a toy monkey to distract a police officer that was the first on the scene.

Travis and Amy join forces to put together the clues to figure out who done it, when our actress turns up dead. Travis does give Amy a little lecture about taking unnecessary risks.