Curious Caterer: Grilling Season

Why base it on a novel if all you do is keep a few names (but not even the heroine's!) and professions? Having read the series, it's disappointing to see it so poorly translated into Hallmarkese- bland and boring and body-conscious. Angsty son is now a confident daughter. Ex is now an okay guy, not an abuser. Love interest is a skinny dude, not a gorgeous Dan Hagerty bear of a guy. Best friend no longer a loving and lovely diva who has the same ex as heroine. All the realism and feistiness of the series has been sucked out. Actually, the best thing about the series is adding "The Curious Caterer" title to it. Best use of series is to have TV on while you do something useful, like meal prep.

I gave this new series another shot after being very disappointed with the first one. I felt Andrew Walker was a bit more comfortable in his role in this one but the script was perhaps even worse. His ex-wife is so OTT and one cannot imagine them ever having been a couple. Even more so than Goldy and Richard.

This series seems even more unrealistic than most because there is no chemistry between any of the characters imo. If you enjoy them, you enter the worlds of the Mysteries and you accept them as written. You begin to recognize the town, the characters and their relationship to each other and it becomes a familiar place with familiar faces. The method of crime solving is predictable but fun and enjoyable.

This one still misses the mark and I have no idea who these people are and how and where they live. It doesn't seem to be the fault of the author as so many have raved about her books and are dismayed how far the series has strayed from her characters.

Something still hasn't clicked yet and they are immediately easy to forget.

I'll say up front that I have read all the Diane Mott Davidson books. I actually used to work with her husband.

The stories are good and I love Nikki Deloach and Andrew W. Walker. They are so good together.

In the books, Goldy's husband, Richard, is a spousal abuser. Marla is Richard's ex-wife and Goldy's friend. Goldy's has a son, not a daughter. Eventually Goldy marries Tom Schultz (Andrew Walker) and Richard is murdered.

It's Hallmark, so they won't show the dark side of the characters, but I'll keep watching because I love the actors and love another mystery series.

Overall a must watch.

I don't know why you adapt an author's book and then make so many changes? Can writers not come up with their own stories? The actress playing Goldy doesn't resemble the character in the book at all- I don't believe Tom had an ex wife (though I may be wrong on that), Marla and Goldy were both married to Richard who is no longer the abuser he was in the novels. Also as many have pointed out, Goldy had a son not a daughter- no need to change that- and where is Julian?! He not Marla assisted Goldy on her catering gigs. I watched until the discovery of the murder and then I was out. I won't be tuning in to any others in this series. Too many deviations from the books with none being improvements. Ugh.

I enjoyed this latest movie in the Curious Caterer Mysteries series. Nikki Deloach is one of my favorite actresses on Hallmark. Deloach is good in both the Hallmark romantic movies and now the mysteries. She and Andrew Walker are good together. The writing was better than the last movie in this series. Several of the reviewers were critical that the movies had some differences from the book. That always happens when a book is made into a movie. I would suggest that viewers just sit back and enjoy the movie. Hopefully, Hallmark will make more of this series along with my other favorites - Murder 101, Murder She Baked, and The Chronicle Mysteries.