Murder a la Mode

While I love the Cabot Cove episodes with the Dr. and the sheriff, It is fun to see Jessica get out and about to exotic locations. Set in the world of French fashion, it is harder to guess the murderer than some other episodes.

Jessica arrives in Paris to work on her latest book, whilst there she meets up with friend Carrie, who's making her way in Paris as a model, but Jessica naturally ends up embroiled in a murder.

It's not a particularly memorable episode, I'm sorry to say it, but it's like a poor copy of A Fashionable way to die, a strong story from a few years ago.

On the plus side, I didn't quite know who it was until the end, on the down side, when it got to the reveal, I had almost nodded off. Pacing was actually pretty good, a shame the story was just so bland.

Unusual in that there's no 'tonight on Murder, she wrote,' instead we get a little snippet of a story, a sweat shop being burned down, it's different.

James Sutorius and Clifford David are both decent, and both stand out, unfortunately Ellia Thompson is very wooden.

I didn't enjoy this one at all.

5/10.

Jessica's excursion into the world of the fashion elite in Paris leads to murder, sweatshops and smugglers. There's plenty of double crossing, secrets and twists and turns in this really good episode. It's a standout in season 11, which, overall, has a mixed bag of episodes.

Like many episodes of "Murder, She Wrote", this one is set abroad...though it was actually filmed in California. And, like many of these 'traveling' episodes, the accents of some of the locals seem to come and go...particularly with the police inspector.

Jessica is in Paris for some book tour and she just happens to have a friend who is there because she's a top fashion model. Not surprisingly, someone soon is murdered...and Jessica decides to investigate.

This is a decent episode despite few in the cast having French accents as well as those who did, it seemed to come and go. The mystery itself is decent and the show is mildly interesting.

I love MSW, and this review does not reflect my usual adoration for the star, Dame Lansbury.

As a younger person, I never took interest in this show; thanks to syndication, I really enjoy watching and trying to pay close attention to the subtle clues of each murder.

As much as I wanted to love this episode, it was just not very captivating. The motive of the murder was not very clear, and it was an implausible clue (why I titled my review 'ridiculous') that preceded the solution of the murder.

In addition, Elia Thompson exuded annoyance and a smug expression the entire episode. Also, she was a poor choice for a high-fashion runway model, and the whole runway portion was a little embarrassing to watch.

The inclusion of the smuggling, and Huan's character, made it all seem like too much to squeeze into one episode. There was enough potential material within the "fashion" triangle of characters, as I saw it.

The unlikable characters were too many for me to enjoy watching this episode, in addition to the silly plot and embarrassing fashion details. 4 Stars are for our mystery heroine, who never fails to deliver.