Ainsley McGregor Mysteries: A Case for the Winemaker

Let's start of with this taking place in Texas. Nope, not even close. Nowhere in Texas looks anything like the location of this show. In fact, it was actually filmed in Victoria British Columbia, almost 1800 miles from the closet border of Texas. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this was supposed to be Texas. There are no lakes surrounded by mountains anywhere in Texas. Next, none of the characters sound like or dress like Texas. Plastering Texas flags all over the set cannot make up for the glaring 2000 miles difference. I'm just blown away by the cluelessness of trying to pass this off as Texas. Next, just to beat a dead horse, there are no Mexican Americans, even as extras. Are the producers so dense they don't know how many Hispanics there are in Texas. If you're going to try to continue this silly charade, at least bring some actual Texans to fill in as extras.

The tropes are overflowing. Civilian female "criminologist" is smarter than all the local yokel sheriffs (with four stars on his collar no less. Acting and writing are meh.

The acting was pretty bad for the backup characters, with multiple times of "dead air". Not sure if this was for dramatic effect, but the scene by the car where they agree to meet at Dooley's for supper, was painful to watch.

The quality of the movie overall was far below what Candace previously had done on Hallmark and I know GAC is trying, but the quality of their movies just isn't there yet. Stop stealing actors and develop some actors for your series and movies.

The parallels between the Teagarden series is way too obvious - instead of an old boyfriend being a detective to work with, she works with her brother and then, the book club, which was so over the top, again made me uncomfortable and they forced it on us that they were going to discuss the murder and help to solve it, of course putting Ainsley as their leader since she has a criminal investigation background, but couldn't handle the situation so moved out of Chicago to the country. I rate it a 5, not a bad time waster, but definitely not a must watch like the Teagarden movies were.

I love CBB, I really do. I was happy to see her in another mystery. This one didn't get me hooked, but I'll watch a new one if they make any.

This film was a bit too character-wise, they were all over the place. Trying too hard to establish a fun quirky town.

Ainsley herself is a former criminologist, who teaches now. She opens a craft market and runs a book club. Her brother is locl sheriff. Her best friend's husband is a suspect. I wish the writers picked one of these reasons for her to be involved in the investigation. Way too much for Ainsley to do. Focus on one or two things: like she's the sister and the one who found the body. Or she's an off-duty criminologist who helps police in her free time. Etc.

And the book club looks a lot like Aurora Teagarden's club. Probably it's in the books, but I didn't read it. And I insist that it was a mess in this film. Their involvement seemed so forced.

The romantic line was a bit weird to watch. They didn't pretend Ainsley was a blushful maiden, even though the blurring filters were a bit too obvious. We knew she was a woman in her 40-s, he was a man in his 40-s. What's with the clumsy flirting?.. Making a big deal of a dinner invitation, then the whole come home for a cake thing (they really had cake), etc. I get it, these will ber uber-family-friendly films, but it's just way too weird.

As for the mystery itself it was better than I expected! So waiting for another one, hopefully less messy with more adult relationship.

I haven't read the book to know how close this storyline is to it, but the dialogue and acting are shoddy The setting is a fictional town in Texas. Yet, not a single person has a Texan drawl or twang. They do, however, have plenty of the interesting and quirky southern sayings like, "You're as stubborn as a mule with his heel caught in a stump."

In my opinion, the writer(s) could have done better. I was able to immediately figure out who the killer was, which made for a boring movie. It also was a disappointment as it came across as a wannabe mix of Hallmark's Aurora Teagarden Mystery and Mystery 101. Hopefully, the next one is better; otherwise, it's peace out GAF."

I agree with others that this is too much like an Aurora Teagarden movie (minus Marilu Henner).

But my real issue is Willing Suspension of Disbelief. This movie supposedly takes place somewhere in Texas, but is so obviously filmed elsewhere (Hello, British Columbia) that I just couldn't go with it.

Also, as with other GAC movies, there's a lack of "oomph". There needs to be more emotion and energy. I am not sure why this is so consistent across all their efforts. I wish they'd show more zip.

Candace is cute, the mystery is okay, the production values adequate, the cast is trying, but...nope.

Better luck next time!