The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango (2023)

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Hallmark Movies & Mysteries has really been gifting us cozy mystery fans with some new movies this year. The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango, starring Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp, premiered this month. The two paired up for another Hallmark dancing movie, Christmas Waltz in 2020. While I didn't mark Christmas Waltz as a favorite of mine, Lacey and Will were a good pairing and I was excited to see them star in a mystery.

Constance Bailey (Chabert), a detective, is sent undercover to Malta to investigate the murder of a high-profile CEO who is killed on the eve of a ballroom dance competition. Constance must learn to dance in order to effectively go undercover at the dance competition. Since she cannot dance, she is paired with Sebastian Moore (Kemp) to teach her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. The setting is stunning.  Sometimes Hallmark movies that take place internationally are not filmed in the country where the story is set. That was not the case here. The movie was filmed in Malta and we are treated to some beautiful, picturesque views. Knowing this allowed me to be fully present in this beautiful country. 

The chemistry between Constance and Sebastian can be felt. This movie is not heavy on the romance, but their playful banter is a joy to watch. I loved seeing them work together on their dancing (can we please put that dancing in the water scene on repeat?!) and on solving the crime. I feel that the dancing definitely helped strengthen their bond. And by the way, I appreciate that in this movie, the woman is the detective. This is a nice change from what I am used to seeing. 

I enjoyed the entire cast and the movie overall, but there are two issues that prevent me from giving it a perfect score. First, it seemed a bit unbelievable and random to me that Constance was given this assignment. Second, the culprit was way too easy to identify. I didn't figure out the details, but I identified the killer very early in the movie and I never waivered. That's not to say that there weren't several viable suspects and motives, because there were. It's just that Hallmark tends to use a formula. Occasionally they'll deviate and surprise me, but this time they didn't.

Other than that, this movie was a success in my book. I do want to mention one other thing I noticed. In one of the dance scenes there was a wheelchair dancer dancing with an able-bodied partner. Disability representation is so important to me and this scene did it well. The wheelchair dancer blended in with everyone else who was dancing. I want to see much more disability representation in movies, but this is a step in the right direction.

I can see myself watching this movie again and I also look forward to seeing the franchise grow if this does become a series. Given the premise and the title, The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango, I'm not sure how it can be made into a series. But if it does, I'll be there for the party.