Deadly Deed: A Fixer Upper Mystery

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.

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.

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.

This is the best of the three Fixer Upper Mysteries to date. (I am still hopeful that they make more as I really like Jewel and Colin Ferguson together.)

Shannon Hughes is taking a break from renovating Mac's house to do a little charity work converting a mansion into a series of dwellings for those less fortunate. On the first night of work the bank President who was trying to stop the project winds up dead on the property. Not being a popular guy...there are lots of suspects. Don't worry, even with Mac's niece in town, Mac and Shannon will not rest until they find the culprit!

This may not be in league with my three favorite Hallmark mystery series (Hannah Swensen's Murder she Baked, Aurora Teagarden and Mystery 101), but it is still one of the better mysteries on Hallmark and I would really love to see more...Shannon and Mac were just getting started!

This is definitely worth the watch.

I like the interaction between Shannon Hughes (Jewel Kilcher) and her temporary boarder/boyfriend Mac Sullivan (Colin Ferguson) who has partnered with Shannon in solving the mystery murder of the grumpy old banker. I thought the number of potential suspects who murdered the banker were meant to confuse the audience and the writers certainly accomplished this task if this was their intent.

As far as mysteries go, this episode was much weaker than the two prior franchise films. The attempt at trying to maintain suspense with the background music was simply irritating and I found the music was the audience's warning to ignore what happens next because as the music continued nothing ever happened.

Jewel and actor Colin Ferguson did their best working with a very weak script. My message to the writers....if you want us the audience to keep watching we deserve less putrid background suspense music and more of an in depth mystery plot. Don't be so lazy the next time you writers.

I give the film a 6 out of 10 for the good on screen chemistry between Jewel and Colin Ferguson. The writing needs to improve a lot!