Gourmet Detective

This was such a good series with an above average support cast with Bruce Boxleitner and Samantha Ferris, it seems they let the good shows go. Personally I would love to see a film with the older support actors in the Hallmark stable with Bruce Boxleitner and. Marilu Henner.

Maggie Price is a tough workaholic detective with the San Francisco Police Department and works in the homicide division. Recently divorced, she lives with her mother and thirteen-year-old daughter Abigail. A casual date turns into an encounter with the gourmet detective Henry Ross, who portrays himself as a charming and confident man with a refined taste for food. They are thrown together when an investigative journalist dies at a restaurant owned by Henry's friend. All guests are suspects, including Henry, but he is paired up with Detective Maggie Price because he knows everyone and everything about the food industry in town.

A well-made mystery with a pairing of two people from differing walks of life and quite a clash, hence the bantering. The mystery is well done, quite engaging, and the characters are sharply etched, however Detective Maggie Price can be a little severe in her attitude, which can be grating. Overall, though, an above average mystery.

I've watched many of the light mysteries on HMM, including all 17 Aurora Teagardens, and all five of these. While Aurora's gang has proven most entertaining, it's not really 3.5 times better than this series. I realize the food premise limits the number of possible story lines, but Brooke Burns is terrific, and the way Dylan Neal depends on her toughness, while yearning for more than a partners-in-crime-solving relationship, makes them the most appealing duo the network has offered.

As Oliver Twist said at mealtime, "Please, sir, I want some more."

The general story arc was fairly good. I never saw that climax coming.

On the other hand, when it comes to specifics, the plot was so full of holes, it would sink an aircraft carrier. The biggest factor in those holes was police procedure. I guess we can't count among them the fact these two were paired up to begin with given Castle went on for how many seasons with a very similar arrangement. But there were so many other obvious police procedure flaws, I won't even start to name them.

The acting was decent. Neal and Burns got along about like you'd expect and certainly a lot like Castle and Beckett in the early days. Some critics refer to Maggie as bitchy, but her reactions through all the early scenes are exactly what should be expected when her captain has just handcuffed her to an amateur. Perhaps at the cooking demonstration at the top, she should have just kept her mouth shut, but her skepticism at Henry being labeled a detective is natural. She does eventually lighten up and they seem to almost like each other and end up carping at one another like a married couple.

I think in terms of enjoyment, it is fair to compare this to Castle, although in my mind Castle brought a lot more humor to the table through a combination of lame theories and general bumbling.

I've been watching the first episode (of just five?) and nothing struck me more than how similar this is to the now-cancelled TV show: "Castle".

I know the single parent with daughter rôle has been switched over from the consultant to the police detective and that some might argue that the cocky consultant is a modern day TV trope but I'd never make the comparison with, say, "The Mentalist".

In a way, it's a shame that they don't make more "Gourmet Detective" TV movies. They might appeal to pre shark jumping/cancellation Castle fans...