Instead of going back over a cold case as was done in the previous season crime podcaster Alison Sweeney is covering a current murder case involving an estranged couple. The two were going through a bitter divorce when the husband is found dead in a pond on their estate. At first it is thought to be an accident, but then the wife is arrested and charged with his murder.
Sweeney is covering the trial and she starts to believe the wife innocent. So she and her podcast team of Benjamin Ayres and his daughter Olivia Steele Falconer go to work.
The deceased was popular in the country club set and he was hiding assets which many do during divorce proceedings. He also had a number of interesting sidelines. It was one of those that got him killed.
This Chronicle Mystery was pretty good and I guessed the sideline, but not the suspect. I think you will too.
The Chronicle Mysteries The Deep End
2019
Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery
The Chronicle Mysteries The Deep End
2019
Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery
6.9Plot summary
As a favor to her best friend, lawyer Katie Wyer, Harrington Chronicle Managing Editor Alex McPherson has chosen as the subject of the next season of her podcast "Recovered" the murder of Elliot Burke, Stephanie Burke, Elliot's estranged wife, the two in the process of getting divorced, charged with his murder, with Katie her lawyer. Elliot, a non-swimmer, was found dead in the deep end of the pond on the Burke property one morning after purportedly being hit over the head with his own golf club, he often using the expansive property as his own driving range. What is not contested but which forms part of the prosecution's case is that Stephanie stopped by the Burke estate early the previous evening to pick up their two children, of which she has sole custody with Elliot having visitation rights, when the two parents argued. Although not requested by Katie, Alex feels she has to start from scratch in learning all about Elliot and Stephanie to do the story justice, she having as her colleagues on the story the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Drew Goddard, columnist Eileen Bruce, and intern Kendall Godfrey, who happens to be Drew's daughter. What they discover is that Elliot was a man of anomalies: he had a slew of friends who, along with his mother, defend him to no end, two of those friends, Jeremy Powers and Max Corey, who did not seem to match Elliot's socioeconomic status, and to some extent seemed to be living off of him, especially Jeremy; and that his outward wealth did not seem to match his problems with cash flow. They also learn that he had problems with their neighbor, Leonard Newcombe, who seems very protective of his property and his property line. This information is beyond what Katie had hope Alex would help through the podcast, namely finding the identity of a someone named Claire, the person the source of Stephanie and Elliot's fight that evening, Stephanie only knowing second hand from her kids that Elliot was preoccupied with continual telephone calls from said Claire that day, no such person listed among Elliot's contacts. Discovering who Claire is could break the case open, but Alex and the others have to work fast to fit the time-line of the trial underway.
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A bitter divorce that ends in murder
Progress on the romance was good to see
There's good chemistry between the two leading characters, so move this along a little faster! I like both of them. In some of the Hallmark portfolio, the female lead is annoying as possible. This cast are all appealing. I enjoyed the mystery aspect, but the criminal was definitely a surprise. I also like the storyline that doesn't include a "falling out" with each other and then a last minute reconciliation! I just think the romance could move along a little faster. They seem to suit each other well, and are appealing as well. Supporting characters make for a good ensemble cast. Looking forward to future episodes.
Slow progress in romance
Like another reviewer, I wish Drew would pick up the pace a bit with Alex. The shy looks between them belong more to his daughter and prospective beau than to these two. Who are the ones in high school?
I agree with a different reviewer that going to trial with this woman was ridiculous. No DA would proceed with zero evidence beyond a contentious divorce and the prosecutor would have to provide what was known about time of death as one of the first things. So there would have been no reason for the neighbor's wife to be questioned such that she reveals that the accused returned later that night. And where was Alex in the weeks or even months (sometimes years) leading up to the trial? But a TV court drama has to go down to the wire so that the heroine walks into court and gives the defense what she needs minutes before time runs out. I was surprised that the writers did acknowledge the problem with introducing evidence without advising the prosecutor in advance. Even so, the defense attorney didn't follow proper procedure and should have know better. She says something that acknowledges that she's aware of the other suspects, so she also should have had to be notifying the prosecutor of that evidence as they uncovered it. The chaos that follows her last minute questions also should never have happened. That lawyer strikes me as not very good. And why wasn't the key page of "the book" saved into evidence rather than having to rely on a video of it? Failure to preserve evidence is a big no-no and that page definitely should have raised red flags.
The detective work was decent. Our heroes weren't even threatened by the police for interfering as in so many of these shows. I had no idea who did it.
Alex's mom and Drew's daughter provided small but interesting side stories.
As a whole, the movie wasn't a waste of time, but also not one of the better entries in this franchise. If the writers had tightened up some of the flaws in court procedure, it would have been less distracting.