Deadly Deed: A Fixer Upper Mystery

The usual from Hallmark - a nice, clean mystery, this time starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson.

I wouldn't call it original, with the meanest man in town named Potter, just as in "It's a Wonderful Life." Jewel is Shannon, in charge of turning a repossessed Victorian mansion into low-cost housing. One problem is that the bank manager (the aforementioned Potter) doesn't like the terms. Then he's found dead.

Plenty of people wanted him dead, so Shannon gets to work trying to sort it out, using her deducting skills.

This has all the qualities of a Hallmark film: it's slow, takes place in a small town, the people are nice-looking, there's no bad language, and no sex.

Pleasant.

No matter how you cut it, Hallmark & Lifetime are onto something.

When cable and streaming TV led to a proliferation of channels, old school boomer TV execs assumed tv viewers would want to see things like explicit sex or lots of action.

Au contraire.

In truth, just as women do most of the reading, women do most of the TV watching, and they like murder mysteries, romantic storylines and Christmas storylines.

Murder mysteries with romantic storylines such as this third installment of the Fixer Upper series is precisely what female watchers like. The Hallmark Channel knows their demographic and they cater to it.

As for the production, it's pretty good. Jewel is an experienced actress, while Colin Ferguson is a very reliable actor best known for his many years as the sheriff in the show "Eureka" on SyFy. The rest of the cast is fine, the script is plot driven, and it's a good film.

All three films in the series are good. Thumbs up.

It's the small town of Lighthouse Cove. A mansion is being renovated by community volunteers led by Shannon Hughes (Jewel). The apartments are to be occupied by struggling families with donations saving it from demolition by the bank. When the banker is founded murdered inside, Shannon and reporter Mac Sullivan (Colin Ferguson) have to solve it before the demolition begins.

It's a Hallmark mystery. Even considering that, this needs more. The lead pairing needs some more chemistry. The mystery needs to be more compelling. There needs to be some sense of danger. This strikes me as falling a little flat. It's a borderline case but I have to leave this marginally under the line.

I've given up on a lot of the Hallmark Mystery movie series especially Aurora Teagarden because all of the amateur detectives do ridiculous things and practically ask to get killed. In the few Fixer Upper Mysteries, at least Shannon has exercised some common sense despite her father's worry. Jewel just appeals to me and it's not for inappropriate reasons.

The plot isn't great, but there is a bit of mystery. I guessed the killer early but only because that person looked guilty. There were some decent misdirects.

The enjoyable part of this series is Colin Ferguson and Jewel. For me they connect and I'm rooting for them.

But overall the acting isn't great. Seems like Lilah Fitzgerald has enough experience to look a little more casual and not overdo her facial expressions. Several others are a little subpar also.

I've really enjoyed these movies. I like the background of restoring homes, and even more so done by a strong, knowledgeable female contractor. Girl power! I love the chemistry between the two main characters as well.