The Crossword Mysteries “A Puzzle to Die For” #1.1 (2019) (TV)

Not as bad as I feared,  31 July 2021

Tess Harper (Lacey Chabert) is the crossword editor for a New York newspaper.  She discovers that someone may be hiding clues to a string of art thefts in the crossword puzzles the paper publishes.  The police think she’s a crank.  However, they change their opinion when one of Tess’ colleagues at the paper is murdered.  

I know I haven’t rated A Puzzle to Die For very highly, but honestly, it’s not as bad as I feared it would be.  There’s a reason I don’t watch Hallmark films - they usually don’t appeal to me.  But this one, the first in The Crossword Mysteries series, really isn’t half bad.  There’s a certain charm to the production that I enjoyed.  Plus, there were several aspects of the mystery that had me engaged.  Finally, I find it impossible to watch Chabert and not be drawn in by her screen presence - and that incudes her role in the dreadful Lost in Space.  Sure, she’s not going to win an Oscar, but she’s solid enough in this movie.

So, if A Puzzle to Die For isn’t half bad, that means it’s not half good also.  For starters, without naming names, I found some of the acting weak.  And, I found way too much of the dialogue childish.  There are several groan-including scenes where grown humans say the most ridiculous things.  Finally, I really didn’t care for the ending.  I found it completely unbelievable.  

Finally, even though I’ve only rated this a 5/10, I can see myself checking out the other films in the series.  While this one may not have completely worked on me, I see enough promise to watch more of The Crossword Mysteries.  

Edit: Since I finished writing this last night, I can't stop thinking about this silly film and how much fun I actually had watching it. I'm thinking I may have been too hard on it with my preconceived bias against Hallmark films. As a result, I think a bump in the rating is deserved.

6/10