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Winner Takes All is set on the same resort island where criminal psychologist Emilia Priestly (Elizabeth Henstridge), detective Jason Trent (Charlie Weber), and Jane Alcott (Kezia Burrows) plan fictional murder mysteries for guests to enjoy. When the resort is losing money, they offer a promotion. Several eccentric people then travel to the resort to partake in the latest mystery. But lo and behold, another real-life murder takes place. Once again, guests are thrust into the middle of a real investigation.
The setting for this series is quite the departure from most Hallmark mysteries. We are back on the island for Winner Takes All and it's just as breathtakingly beautiful as it was the first time around. The resort where the guests stay is elaborate and elegant. I likely would never have the amount of money it takes to stay at this resort, but it's fun to get away through the magic of television.
In this installment, the characters were the highlight for me. All of the guests have unique personalities and backstories. However, by far, my favorite character was mystery writer, Cassandra, played by Kristin Booth. Hallmark fans will surely be familiar with her, as she plays Shane in the beloved Signed, Sealed, Delivered series. In Winner Takes All, she plays quite a different character, and she does so with perfection.
If you like romance with the lead characters in your cozy mysteries, I'm not sure how you'll feel about this series. It's definitely a slow burn. There is some fun flirting, but not much development with their relationship. Sometimes it does take time for a romance to develop. If it happens too quickly, it often isn't believable. So I'm okay with slow burns. However, up to this point, I'm not sure I buy them as a couple. I don't sense much romantic chemistry, at least not yet. I do think they have great chemistry as a sleuthing team and I'd be okay if it stayed that way. Not every mystery needs romance, not even in the Hallmark universe.
The mystery aspect is two-fold. We get to see how the real-life mystery is solved and we also watch the mystery game unfold. Unfortunately, it's the mystery aspect that brought this movie down a bit for me. Rather than giving us clues to help us solve the mysteries along the way, we are given a ton of information at the end. Also, I figured out the whodunnit for the real-life mystery as soon as this character was introduced. Of course, I didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle, but I just knew this character committed the real-life crime.
Another problem with this series is that the murder rate at this one resort is climbing. After two murders at the same resort, who would want to vacation there? While I love the locked-room aspect, perhaps future installments should focus only on solving the mystery game. One might argue that most cozy mysteries have high murder rates in their settings, but the difference is those are entire towns. The murders in the Mystery Island movies, so far, have taken place at the one specific location.
In general, though, I'm a huge fan of Hallmark mysteries and I will definitely watch future installments in this series. I do prefer small town cozies over ones that take place in exotic locations, but I'm still here for it. It is good to mix it up. One thing I can say about Hallmark is that they do have a variety of mysteries that people with different tastes can enjoy.
Mystery Island: Winner Takes All originally premiered on both the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Mystery. Mysteries sometimes re-air, but it is also currently streaming on Hallmark+.
Which would you prefer - murder mysteries in small towns or in exotic locations? Also, with two murders at the resort now, is this a place you would vacation?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
You are right about people not wanting to go there if they have too many actual murders.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd have to book other plans. :)
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