Instant Favorite.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Blistering performances.

This episode is Mystery Weekend. Samantha is having a weekend with mystery writers coming to her bookshop. A young lawyer acts suspicious comes in asks questions and comes to the Mystery Weekend. He is also kind of flirty. The Mystery Weekend is sponsoring a few authors of mystery books.It seems that the people at this gathering have something to hide. The guest book readers are kind of upper class. Drinks are served at this gathering and Samantha is taking pictures of all her guest. Her best friend Casey is also there.Samantha also has a helper in the store who is very smart, connected to people he can get information from and good on the computer. His name is Philby played by Clarence Williams a great actor. Something bad happens at this event so you have to watch if you can find a place to watch.Now I want to know why there are no more episode on this series. Hallmark Channel had them on for awhile. I have 9 episodes and there are more. Wikipedia list Mystery Woman with 11 episodes from 2003 and 2007.So IMDB where are the rest of them on your site?

I love the series as a whole and have watched them over and over. However, I've never seen the pilot movie. Hallmark does not show it. I have fount it in two places where you can supposedly watch for free, but each time I try to register, my credit card is rejected. Definitely watch what you can. Hallmark Channel, SHOW US THE PILOT!!!!

This was evidently the pilot for the "Mystery Woman" series starring Kellie Martin, which rotates with "Jane Doe" and "McBride" on the "Hallmark Mystery Series." I'm a fan of Kellie Martin and of this concept, but thanks to the direction of this pilot, the minutes flew like hours. This was an extremely slow-moving, poorly acted mystery.Martin was the only one kept of the original cast; the characters of Cassie and Philby were recast. One character who does not appear in the series is Samantha's ex-husband, played by handsome Steven Brand. Frankly, I think they could use him on the show.The producers put some money into this pilot, which concerned an unsolved, 10-year-old murder and a mystery novelist who threatens to reveal the killer in his next book. Robert Wagner plays the novelist, and Joan Severance, whose career I guess we can assume is not what it was, played his wife. With her beauty and outrageously gorgeous figure, Severance looked to be headed towards big things in the '80s. Who can forget her with Kevin Spacey in the "Mel Profitt" "Wiseguy" story arc? Anyway, William Moses plays a police detective who is the partner of Wagner's son.I found the story very far-fetched (not to mention given away in the first twenty minutes) but with some elements that I wish they would put into Mystery Woman now. The idea of Samantha referencing mystery books to solve a crime is similar to what Pierce Brosnan's Remington Steele did with movies, and it's a fun concept.What I found frustrating was, first of all, the pacing, which particularly in Mystery Woman is very slow - it seems less of an issue in Jane Doe and McBride, and in the pilot, it was deadly. I thought it funny that, though in 2003 Wagner was using a standard typewriter, no one commented on it. The DA never asked why Wagner hadn't brought the police the evidence he had for an unsolved murder. A blackmailer claims that at the author's book party, she revealed to someone that she was that person's real mother - does anyone else think a book party is a strange place for that type of discussion? Samantha didn't even blink. The adopted person never commented on it. And how is it that everyone knows the date of a murder that took place ten years earlier? It seemed to be right up there with the Pearl Harbor bombing and 9/11. Bad script.I'm surprised on the basis of this, the series was picked up. I'm glad it was, though, and I hope they get some better directors and scripts as time goes on. Not to mention a few customers for the Mystery Woman bookstore.

This is an excellent mystery with believable characters and skilled acting. The plot is original and interesting. What it truly needs is a sequel or better yet a series.Roger Moncrief