Hot case with a cold detective
There was a time when the drawing room mystery was a cornerstone of prime time. Week after week, “Hart to Hart,” “Moonlighting,” “Ellery Queen,” “Murder, She Wrote” and even “Columbo” offered the viewer a fairly bloodless murder and then a set of characters and clues to decipher along with the starring sleuth.
Of late, however, we seem to require that the brain cells be visibly splattered rather than used in clever deduction. There is still plenty of crime on television -- murder victims pile up in bloody, naked, tortured heaps -- but detection is more and more often left to forensics, or psychics, rather than any compilation of bullet holes and missing earrings or armchair insight into human nature.
With that in mind, it is a relief to see that the Hallmark Channel is attempting to revive the genre with its “Mystery Woman” franchise. In it, mystery bookworm and bookstore owner Samantha (Kellie Martin) solves an assortment of crimes using only her wits and the help of her Watson, former CIA operative Philby (Clarence Williams III). It’s just a shame the show doesn’t trust itself to do more than force Samantha to follow a trail of unlikely clues like a half-starved pigeon.
“Redemption,” the latest addition to the series, which airs tonight, does have one thing going for it -- great guest stars. First John Ratzenberger (Cliff from “Cheers”) makes an appearance, albeit too briefly, as Jim Carter, a man with mistakes in his past and mystery on his mind. In town to help out at Haven, the local recovery facility, Carter shows up at the Mystery Woman Bookstore and instantly befriends owner/amateur photographer/super sleuth Samantha by winning her over with a tale of an abandoned family he now regrets. Before you can say “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” the most valuable book in the store goes missing and Carter, who may well have palmed it, winds up dead. Dead and with his fingerprints chemically burned off him. Identity issues? You bet.
Grumpy old Chief Connors (Casey Sander) immediately suspects one of the more belligerent denizens of Haven, a man by the name of Murphy, who is played by Ed O’Ross, a classic tough guy character actor last seen as a Russian mobster in “Shark.” But Samantha ain’t buying it, and with the aid of Philby, she soon discovers that Carter has left her a task to fulfill -- get a letter to his long-lost daughter -- and a mystery to solve. All this while the Mystery Woman is under renovation by the seemingly inept Tyler Dell (David Lascher), who Samantha hired because his father, a Vietnam vet, has recently died.
It’s all connected of course, and with the briskness of Nancy Drew and the emotional range of Joe Friday, Samantha sets about unraveling the mystery. She cracks codes, interrogates drunks, survives parking lot attacks, dodges bullets and, with the help of her lawyer pal Cassie (Nina Siemaszko), locates key files in less than a day. (It really is a wonder she needs to hire a contractor at all.)
Not a moment is wasted on anything approaching character development, and mood is left to the soundtrack which is set permanently on “tense.” The real story, prefaced by an opening shot deep in the jungles of Cambodia, at last emerges, complete with stolen idol, enormous diamond and a mistrustful conspiracy that goes awry. Needless to say by the end of the hour all is solved and tidied up in true Scooby Doo fashion.
Unfortunately, redemption, unlike revenge, is not a dish best served cold, and “Mystery Woman” is as clipped and chilly a detective series as it gets.
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‘Mystery Woman: Redemption’
Where: Hallmark Channel
When: 9-11 p.m. today
Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)
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