Hallmark Television Shows & Mysteries has a show called “The Cases of Mystery Lane.”
The Cases of Mystery Lane is the first book in what seems to be a new series from Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. In the movie, Garcia and Paul Campbell played a couple stuck in a rut and had to help figure out who killed someone. Is this sudden change in jobs just what they need to fix their relationship? Or will they get a divorce or pass away?
The Cases of Mystery Lane
Birdie Case, played by Aimee Garcia, is a lawyer who works for her very tough mother. She is married to Alden Case, who is a bit of a kook and has more of a series of fads and schemes than a real job. He is going to a local school to study private investigation, but Birdie thinks he is going to school for accounting.
Then, Birdie’s boss, Tim, walks into his office with a noose around his neck. A Hallmark card! When Alden and Birdie figure out this isn’t a suicide, they figure out what happened. The case gives Alden and Birdie something to do that her mom can’t control. It also gives this couple something they can talk about, which helps them fix their falling-apart marriage. Oh, and they’ll find out who killed the person, too. Also, that is very important.
What films or shows do you think of?
The One Murder in the Building is funny and mysterious in the right amounts. Some of the things Alden does as a private eye are like what Columbo did. And it reminds me of when Murder, She Wrote was on primetime, which is about the best thing you can say about a show like this.
Performances Worth Seeing
Matt Hamilton has a very specific role in Hallmark Cards films: he plays a bit player with a weird trait, and she steals every scene they’re in. In the movie “Three Wise Men and a Baby,” he played a high school bully whose act has become less funny as he ages. In the first Stories of Mysterious Lane, he has a detective who talks in air quotes, which makes Alden feel confused.
Memorable Dialogue
“Look at me. Take a look around. I’m 38 years old and I’m learning to be a private investigator. I never take the easy way out.” Please applaud Alden for knowing himself.
Our Take
What could go wrong with a murder mystery comedy starring Paul Campbell and Garcia? It couldn’t do that, and luckily, it doesn’t. The Cases of the Unknown Lane has all the wit and charm you’d expect from a movie starring two actors who are great at everything they do. People are hungry for this kind of content, like case-of-the-week dramas that don’t go too far into the dark, sleazy side of true crime.
The author and Garcia are also great leads for this kind of show because you wouldn’t expect to see them there. Garcia is a bit more strict and follows the rules, and her lawyer’s handbook doesn’t have any tips on how to show up at an FBI investigation without being asked.
Campbell’s Alden’s is not a very important mess. He lost money on the digital currency craze, sold robotic toys on eBay to make money, and went to night school to learn how to be a private investigator. You care about the main character(s), even though the mysteries must be at least slightly interesting.
Birdie and Alden are a new couple to us, but they seem to have been together for a long time. We want them to do well not only in solving this murder but also in their marriage. They were meant to be a strange pair, and watching Garcia and Campbell work together is fun.
So far, the only problem with The Cases of Mystery Lane is that it’s just a movie.
If there isn’t a follow-up TV show or at least a different 90-minute event in about 3 to 4 months to solve the cases, this movie will feel like an empty promise. This is a movie-length pilot, which is how Hart to Hart, Columbo, and many other mystery shows started. Does Hallmark want more shows like Only Murders? They want The Cases of The Unknown Lane, so there’s no mystery here.
Our Call
STREAM IT and tell Hallmark that Aimee Martinez and Paul Campbell need to sign a contract soon.
You May Also read: Secrets of Record of the Mightiest Lord Chapter 1
