The Cases of Mystery Lane (2023)

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Hallmark Movies and Mysteries has really been catering to their mysteries fanbase this year, at least more so than last year so far. I have yet to review, but thoroughly enjoyed, Family History Mysteries: Buried Past and Curious Caterer: Grilling Season. The Cases of Mystery Lane, which stars Hallmark veteran Paul Campbell and a new-to-me actress, Aimee Garcia, first aired this past Sunday.  Let's dive into this latest one.

The premise of all three of these movies are different, which I appreciate. The Cases of Mystery Lane features a quirky married couple, Alden and Birdie Case, who happen to live on Mystery Lane. They are both keeping secrets from each other and are drifting apart. Alden is secretly studying to be a private investigator and Birdie is an attorney at her mother's law firm. What's her big secret? She plays poker online. Nothing too earth-shattering, but these secrets that the married couple are holding from each other are enough to let viewers know they don't have a perfectly happy marriage. In fact, Birdie is planning to file for divorce. 

One of the things that really bugs me about Hallmark movies is when they involve lies. It seems to happen quite often in their romcoms. (I'm looking at you A Paris Proposal and The Love Club: Nicole's Pen Pal.) In The Cases of Mystery Lane, I'm pleased to say, the lies were not a huge part of the movie. They were found out pretty quickly, so the story could move along after that.

As part of an assignment, Alden decides to spy on man whom he believes is interested in his wife. This leads to Alden discovering a dead body in Birdie's office building, which the authorities believe was suicide. This is actually the second death, as the movie's opening scene showed someone getting killed. But is this second death really suicide? And who killed the person shown at the beginning of the movie? Can Alden and Birdie find common ground as sleuths and solve these mysteries?

I really enjoyed this movie, which I believe could turn into a series. In fact, I think it would make a great weekly t.v. show. But even as a series of movies, I can see this moving forward. The end left the door wide open for possibilities.

The mystery in this movie was good, but not great. Almost immediately after the culprit was introduced in the movie, I had a strong feeling that person was the killer. I did briefly waver a few times, but I always went back to that same person. I was hoping it was someone else because I like to be surprised. I also felt like the solution wasn't a direct result of sleuthing, but that it just fell into their laps. I would like to have seen more sleuthing leading up to figuring out who it was. Our sleuthing team is just starting out, though, so perhaps this will improve in future movies should there be more.

I liked that the romance was very different than what we're used to seeing in Hallmark movies. We get to see a different kind of conflict. I am invested in their relationship because I want to see them work through their problems and have a successful marriage. 

There are funny moments in this movie, but not all of them worked for me. Some were just cheesy, and at times Paul Campbell's character was a bit too over the top goofy for me. Perhaps he just needs to mature and we'll see his growth in future movies. I wasn't crazy about the character of Birdie in the beginning either. I thought she was too high strung and I didn't understand her. At one point she blamed Alden for roping her into sleuthing when, in fact, she made the decision herself to do this. She wasn't forced into it. However, her character warmed up to me and I grew to really like both of them, imperfections and all.

I've seen Hallmark advertise this as their "inaugural case", so I'm hoping that means their intention is to make it a series. There's a lot of good material to work with with strong leads. I enjoyed the supporting cast as well. I think there is a future with The Cases of Mystery Lane and I look forward to seeing its growth.