Picture Perfect Mysteries (TV Series) Picture Perfect Mysteries: Newlywed and Dead (2019) User Reviews

Not good enough

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 20 June 2019]

The latest in female amateur detectives from Hallmark Mystery casts Alexa PenaVega who is a video and still photographer and makes a living recording some meaningful moments for people.

Such as for her latest clients wedding couple Kurt Szarka and Lindsay Maxwell. But marriage is even shorter than one for Britney Spears. Szarka is shot dead on the floor with a small caliber pistol with the sound muffled.

Alexa's wedding work is examined thoroughly by the cops and the lead detective is Carlos PenaVega. Suspicion goes to Maxwell's brother John Kor, but we know that cannot be right.

Let's say that a fresh look at the pictures and video give Alexa and her sidekick in photography Trezzo Mahoro the defining clue. In fact they and the police had a wrong theory of the crime all around.

Nicely done story by a very well cast cast.

Love the opening and....

[carpenterschild · 7/10 · 29 September 2019]

This movie opens like a 1960's crime drama. Both actors are good. I think the writing is weak. Alexa and Carlos are believable. I just felt the script was a little rough.

Hallmark Mystery

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 30 June 2019]

Photographer Allie Adams (Alexa PenaVega) is working her friend Jenna Cole's wedding. Everyone is on edge after a confrontation earlier when Allie's brother and Jenna's ex Greg showed up. Then, the groom Kevin is killed and Jenna accuses Greg. Sam Acosta leads the police investigation with Greg as the prime suspect.

Alexa PenaVega and her husband Carlos PenaVega seems to be long term employees of Hallmark. I remain unconvinced of their acting skills although they are well suited for these roles. The mystery is nothing special but it's good at maintaining suspicions about Greg. His innocence is never in doubt but he gives good guilty faces. This is nothing special. It is blandly uninspired. It is better than most Hallmark mysteries. It's a pretty low bar and it's able to step over it.

Good Cast But Very Slow Mystery

[lakebotany-32808 · 6/10 · 15 March 2020]

Too many quiet moments drag the film down. After all, this is supposed to a fun light mystery....no one is wants numerous quiet moments when nothing happens, such as Sam (Carlos PenaVega) contemplating his chess game all alone and strumming his guitar to himself.

A good cast but they need to write larger parts for Trezzo Mohoro who plays Allie's assistant Noah. He provides great comic relief but we see far too little of him. Also Sunita Prasad is terrific in a smaller part, playing Maya. Also Allie's brother Greg played by Jon Cor is very good & easy on the eyes!

Good editing would have pared this film down to an hour tv show. Hopefully the writing & editing improves with the next one.

A Pleasant Small-Town Whodunit

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 30 August 2023]

This first in a series of whodunits is very enjoyable. A murder occurs in plain view, but the police have few clues. Enter Allie Adams (Alexa PenaVega), the photographer who was filming the wedding reception when the crime took place. When her brother becomes the prime suspect, she starts sleuthing in earnest, despite the protestation of the police detective assigned to the case, Sam Acosta (Carlos PenaVega).

The case and the film proceed at a relaxed pace, aided by some background music that I really enjoyed. The chemistry between the two principals is nascent, as it should be in the first episode. Allie gets plenty of help as she tries to identify the "real" killer. The focus of the police seems to shift whenever they get new evidence. And Sam, who recently moved to Willow Haven from New York, begins to settle in and learn the dynamics of the small town he now calls home.

Wedding murder and the beginning of a great relationship.

[cgvsluis · 6/10 · 26 January 2022]

I love the animated opening of this episode. It was fun, colorful and very retro.

I really appreciate the use of married in real-life couple the PenaVegas in this series. They are both absolutely lovely and great together.

The series starts with Ally, a photographer, shooting a difficult wedding. The bride is upset before the wedding and it is partly Ally's brother, Greg's fault. He is the bride's ex-boyfriend and he showed up to the rehearsal dinner where he was quite disruptive. During the first dance the groom ends up shot and killed...enter our handsome detective Sam.

Sam gets partnered up with an older detective, Nick, under protests...because he would rather work alone. He is a big city detective from New York and has moved to this small town where he did the first impulsive thing he has ever done in his life...he bought a fixer-upper.

Greg becomes the #1 suspect in the groom, Kevin's murder. It doesn't help that he was alone at a cabin at the time of the murder.

"What's a six letter word for not innocent?"-Nick

When Ally learns that if Greg is their suspect they will not use time and resources looking for anyone else...she starts to look for the real killer herself. Her assistant is taking a course in criminology...which comes in handy. She assembles her team to figure out who-dunnit...her assistant/crime student and her best friend the actress.

Nick takes Sam to a local diner where they meet Sue, the waitress...who seems to know everything about him...welcome to a small town, Willow Haven. Sue even knew what house Sam had purchased, the real fixer upper.

"No offense, but you seem like the kind of guy who would wear a suit and tie on vacation."-Ally

For some reason this was a slow start to the series for me. Lots of still moments and a few awkward ones...our two romantic leads spend most of the series apart. I really appreciated some of the jazz and Basilian music used in the series. Also, I will note that there are some distinct color schemes in this series, in the picture perfect studio, Ally's home, the police station and Sam's home.

My favorite scene was the Thai food meal in the car for an impromptu steak-out...and great conversation.

Newly wed and dead

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 21 June 2023]

Small-town New England professional wedding photographer Allie Adams (Alexa PenaVega) finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery when the groom is suddenly shot and killed during the ceremonial first dance. Suspicion immediately turns towards Allie's big brother Greg, the ex-boyfriend of the bride. Allie begins her own amateur investigation to clear Greg's name, teaming up with Sam (Carlos PenaVega), the newest detective on the force.

An engaging mystery featuring the husband and wife duo who get to the bottom of this mystery - Alexa plays a photographer with a keen eye for detail and Carlos is the detective who spends most of the time trying to dissuade from following the case.

Sweet and smart mystery movie

[soonasblog · 10/10 · 18 June 2019]

Finally a really good Hallmark Mystery Movie in the same League as "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries", "Hailey Dean Mysteries", "Murder She Baked", "Gourmet Detective" and "Garage Sale Mysteries".

good watch

[jewelch · 6/10 · 16 March 2021]

I have loved all of these. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 3/16/2021

Weak

[tim-783 · 3/10 · 17 June 2019]

The latest in Hallmark's series of "female non-detective annoys real detective but ends up solving the murder" movies. In this one, a groom is shot dead at his wedding during the couple's first dance - when everyone who has a smartphone is taking pictures. It does not occur to anyone (until the end of the movie) to use these photos to figure out who was standing near the place where the shot came from.

I thought of Monk, or any actual detective - surely their head would have exploded. The bar is pretty low for Hallmark's cozy murder mysteries. Can we at least make an effort? One more thing I forgot to mention - the "female non-detective" is the wedding photographer.

Surprised!

[famielovez · 8/10 · 7 July 2019]

The two main actors ususlly are horrible in Hallmark movies, but they actually surprised me in this movie in a good way.

Zero chemistry

[michaelalobb · 3/10 · 18 July 2019]

This is the first movie I've watched with these two married leads and I was shocked at the zero chemistry between them on screen. Why hasn't anyone at Hallmark picked up on that? Or don't they watch their own films & have their eyes closed during production? Other than that (quite important aspect) the sets were beautiful, everyone had perfect hair and the plot moved along nicely.

Love this movie mystery

[sherriwilkins-98127 · 10/10 · 18 July 2019]

Great movie mystery. I can't wait to see more of this mystery series. It was fun and interesting to watch. They are absolutely wonderful to watch together.

Waste of time

[d-robold · 2/10 · 22 June 2019]

Flat, charmless, stale, trite, etc. The plot is as bad as the acting. There was nothing unexpected, engrossing, or terribly likable about any of this "mystery". I understand the lead actors are married in real life; I hope they have more chemistry off set than on. The plot points and lines were repeated endlessly. In one scene everything points to the photographer's brother, the next it's the groom's father, then it's a guest, and then they do it all over again. Photographer meets detective, they can't see eye to eye, she tries to talk about the case, he tries not to, she apologizes for something, he says it's fine, and we're supposed to see he likes her but must be professional and she likes him but he's accusing her brother of murder, and then repeat the attraction/angst scene. To make it worse, I felt as if the actors were just reading their lines. If they bring this series back, I won't be watching.

Picture Perfect match for Hallmark with The PenaVegas'

[shellyg9601 · 10/10 · 7 September 2022]

I absolutely love the collaborations where Alexa and her husband Carlos work together.

They are spectacular together on screen they have amazing chemistry and they make the films so enjoyable to watch.

They are each individually extremely talented and gifted actors.

Picture perfect mysteries was fun, wholesome, and wonderful to watch.

Great plot, great play out, great cast, superb music choices. I felt the writing and directing was on point. Even the opening sequence was just so on point. Every detail in the set designs and props, the lingo, it all flowed perfectly.

I found no flaws in this gem of a film.

It made me laugh, kept me wondering, and hoping for more!

I will absolutely watch anything that has Alexa and Carlos starring together.

They are a truly terrific team on the screen and compliment every work of art they make together.

I love the Hallmark Mystery series and I hope Hallmark will collaborate for many more films and many more years with Alexa and Carlos PenaVega.

Wooden, boring and predictable

[sarkanovotna · 3/10 · 15 April 2020]

I didn´t have big expectations, but this was even worse than I thought. The two main characters are stiff and very unconvincing as a romantic couple, the dialogue is just not believable. Weird, as the two are actually married in real life. Never more.

Would love a second movie!

[tamiamiot · 10/10 · 29 September 2019]

This one was good enough to keep my interest, but a second one could be great! The PenaVega's make a good team and Hallmark should put some more sparks in there, taking advantage of their chemistry!

Picture Perfect Mysteries: Newlywed and Dead

[JoBloTheMovieCritic · 5/10 · 20 July 2019]

5/10 - a deeply average Hallmark Movies & Mysteries flick

Love it

[vriverals-68500 · 9/10 · 21 March 2021]

I enjoy this series. It's a wonderful show . I like the characters interaction with one another. I enjoy seeing a show with a cast that finally represents people of all color. Keep up the good work !!

Boring

[vagemini-01589 · 1/10 · 15 February 2020]

The real life married couple are two people in my opinion are hard to watch. Their acting skills bore me. I never watch to the end, so I never solve the mystery or watch anything they're in. I love the network though.

Not good

[LtlHippo · 1/10 · 9 March 2020]

I've tried to like the movies the main characters are in but they are horrible together. She's not as bad as him. He's a horrible actor. He's stiff and boring.

Do not watch

[vantamn2 · 1/10 · 23 June 2019]

Another boring husband/wife Hallmark movie. Another poor planning--hide the pregnancy of the main female character! Please===casting has to do better. There are so many great actors that could play roles for Hallmark. Stop using the same ones over and over.

Most BORING Mystery Movie

[agambre · 1/10 · 17 June 2019]

It was so boring that I have to turn it off after 30 minutes as it was painful to watch. The husband and wife leads have no acting talents and zero chemistry. What a waste!!!!! The story plot was blah, blah, blah.

Sigh...

[icdrgon · 1/10 · 28 June 2019]

They are great dancers and truly should stick to that...acting is not for them

I can't take my eyes off theIr hair!

[phlbrq58 · 5/10 · 29 January 2022]

I watched it with the ff button cause that's what it deserves. 1.5 hrs of mediocrity in 25 mins. The girls' hair is great. I"m a bit fascinated with Hallmark mysteries being such formulaic, commodity entertainment. Its been described as akin to comfort food. If so, its more like junk food. It isn't a recognizable world thats populated by inhumans.