Murder in a Mansion
Whilst still using her eye for detail to find bargains Jennifer Shannon (Lori Loughlin - Abandoned and Deceived) is also supporting her realtor friend, Adrian (Janet Kidder - Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111), in selling a huge 19th century house which comes with a slight problem, legend says it is cursed due to a series of deaths which happened there. When Adrian tries to dispel the legend by sleeping in the house, broadcasting her stay live via webcam, she ends up dead and the police can't find anything suspicious to say it was foul play. Unconvinced that Adrian just died, Jennifer decides to snoop despite Detective Lynwood (Kevin O'Grady) warning her once again not to get involved. And Lynwood isn't the only one as Jennifer's husband, Jason (Steve Bacic - She Made Them Do It), also tries to persuade her to not get involved. But Jennifer can't let her suspicions rest and puts herself in danger when she continues to snoop.
If Agatha Christie was alive and writing her novels now do you think she would write Miss. Marple as a woman who went to carboot sales looking for bargains to sell on Ebay and who found herself getting involved in solving crimes which happen around her? I ask purely because that thought came to mind as I watched "Garage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room", the third in the series of "Garage Sale Mystery" movies starring Lori Loughlin, as at times it feels like a contemporary take on Miss Marple. Although at the same time it reminded me just as much to many a TV movie where a civilian turns amateur detective to solve a crime involving a friend.
As such "Garage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room" has an almost classic set up with this woman, Adrian, trying to sell a house and at a show event as well as her funeral we meet a variety of people who could have been behind her unexplained death. There is the daughter who hated her mum, the business rival, the young creepy man whose ancestor built the house and so on with all these people acting suspiciously when ever Jennifer or her business partner, Dani, are around. It is all typical and whilst you sort of want to know how she died, especially as there is webcam footage, it isn't gripping in a way that it makes you try to work it out for yourself.
The reason why "Garage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room" isn't that gripping is because it goes more for light and pleasant rather than hard hitting and intriguing. As such every time Lori Loughlin is in a scene she looks gorgeous and she flashes that smile, and that isn't a criticism because it is part of the character of Jennifer, the mum who can do it all from running a business, being mum and solving a crime. Now there are other people in "Garage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room", Sarah Strange is back and still fun as her business partner and Steve Bacic does supportive husband quite nicely but there is nothing about the characters or acting in this movie to really stand out from the crowd.
What this all boils down to is that "Garage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room" is an enjoyable third movie in the "Garage Sale Mystery" which is light and fun for those who like Lori Loughlin and don't want to be challenged by what they watch.
Tags: TV Mystery Movie Crime Solvers
