Gourmet Detective: Eat, Drink, and Be Buried

In this Gourmet Detective Mystery Dylan Neal is catering a party with an 18th century motif and his new friend Detective Brooke Burns is along as a date. Good thing to when a homicide occurs.

But what a homicide. Back in the times depicted a publishing dynasty started when ownership was decided over a duel. So the duel is re-enacted by stepbrothers. Only one of the guns has a real bullet and one of the duelists dies.

The suspects start with the family patriarch and the three surviving offspring. The father had a son and daughter by his first marriage and on' his second marriage he adopts the second wife's son and daughter from her previous marriage. It really sounds like a recipe for one of those nighttime soap operas from the 80s.

With 3 surviving kids to start and various romantic and business associates you have a healthy mix of suspects.

Bruce Boxleitner makes an appearance as Neal's retired detective father. These two have a strained relationship, but progress is made in repairing it a bit.

Good story and frankly I didn't pick the right perpetrator.

Henry and Maggie attend a birthday gala for David Westin, who is a friend of Henry and for whom he oversaw the food for, in old fashioned attire...only no one else does as there was a last minute change of plans. During the gala Maggie tries to pump Henry for ideas for his birthday, a day Henry clearly doesn't want to celebrate. Then during the reenactment of a historical family dual one of the two Westin sons is shot accidentally. Or were they? Maggie and Henry are back on the case, but their relationship is slightly strained.

Henry's father, Jim Ross played by Bruce Boxleitner, drops in to say "hi", while Henry is preparing a delicious looking breakfast. As it turns out Henry's father is a former police officer!

In an effort to try to smooth the way with Maggie, Henry brings Maggie's favorite Cannolis from Portola to the office...but she is still giving him the cold shoulder. As a family friend, Henry is very invested in helping solve this case. The Westin family is a blended family of two sons and two daughters, none of whom get along. What is at stake? Control of the company and money. Then the son-in-law has a mishap that could have killed him while out horseback riding. The plot thickens as not everyone is telling the truth.

Henry's dad Jim, drops in at the police station where everyone has heard of him...because he is a police legend! It is clear that things are strained between Henry and his father. Maggie becomes even more bent out of shape finding out that Henry has not told her anything about his famous police officer father.

"I know that one, never mind never means "never mind"."-Henry

"You are good at that. The whole dazzling thing."-Maggie "It takes one to know one."-Henry

Thankfully Henry and Maggie smooth things over, Henry and Jim work on their relationship, and Henry and Maggie solve the murder mystery.

I really appreciate the mature relationship between Henry and Maggie, how they are able to speak and share difficult stories...how they respect one another and get to the bottom of each mystery. I hope Hallmark continues this series. I would like to see where their relationship goes.

Also, I am not a foodie, but I really appreciate the sprinkling of food, recipes, flavor pairings, and culinary tidbits.

While this isn't my favorite hallmark mystery series...I do enjoy it, watch it and recommend it!

Maggie has to be the most inept cop ever. This is the fourth time she's been disarmed by a suspect. She'd have been dismissed or put on leave a long time ago. Cops are taught to be alert and ready for anything, yet over and over she manages to get herself into situations where a suspect ends up with her gun.

That said, I like the chemistry between Henry and Maggie. I also enjoyed seeing Henry make peace with his dad. I'm hoping to see that relationship bloom more in the next movie in the series.

With this series, the mystery is so tied up in money and business that it's boring. Maggie is always incompetent as a detective; whether not being sneaky AT ALL, always getting knocked out or incapacitated in some way, etc. Their relationship has no warmth or romance at all. I think the stories could be better if it were acted out better.

Henry and Maggie attend the birthday party of a local publisher, where his son and stepson reenact a historical 18th century dual. Someone, however, has loaded the antique pistol with a real musket ball, so when son pulls the trigger, he kills his stepbrother in front of a roomful of witnesses. Henry and Maggie have to figure out who wanted the stepson dead and why.

Another above average Gourmet detective episode with a likeable lead actor and a bossy lead actress, though she comes across here less grating with her sarcasm as shown in other episodes. She can be still harsh in her statements to her boyfriend-consultant. The suspects are top notch, there's enough twists to keep one absorbed.