Me and the wife really enjoyed watching this and we recommend it. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 9/12/21.
Flower Shop Mysteries (TV Mini Series)
Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word (2016)
User Reviews
Review this title13 Reviews
this one is not great
blanche-23 June 2016
These Hallmark mysteries follow the same basic structure: a female amateur sleuth with a business of some sort that she has with a female partner, and the partner is constantly trying to talk her out of doing investigations on her own; they live in an idyllic small town.
Throw a story at it and it's done.
Brooke Shields stars in "The Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word" for Hallmark. She plays Abby Knight, a widow with a teenage daughter who returns from New York City, where she worked as a lawyer, to her small home town. There she opens a flower shop.
On her opening day, Abby's car is hit by someone whom she learns later may have been fleeing a crime scene where a young man was murdered. She launches her own investigation, but then meets a good- looking ex-soldier (Brennan Elliott) who works as a bartender. The two of them work together.
The cast is of a higher level than the other mysteries, with Shields, Elliott, and Beau Bridges as Abby's father.
They just need to pay a little more attention to the scripts.
There were a series of mysteries some years ago - Jane Doe and Mystery Woman, both of which featured good actresses in the leads and were slower than molasses.
The flower shop, garage sale, and Teagarden mysteries move a little faster and have more energy behind them. They're light fare for someone who doesn't want to think for a couple of hours.
I saw Brooke Shields in person some years ago - even from where I was standing, I could tell first how tall she is, and then how graceful. At 51, she's still a beauty and always nice to see. But these films need to be brought up a notch.
Throw a story at it and it's done.
Brooke Shields stars in "The Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word" for Hallmark. She plays Abby Knight, a widow with a teenage daughter who returns from New York City, where she worked as a lawyer, to her small home town. There she opens a flower shop.
On her opening day, Abby's car is hit by someone whom she learns later may have been fleeing a crime scene where a young man was murdered. She launches her own investigation, but then meets a good- looking ex-soldier (Brennan Elliott) who works as a bartender. The two of them work together.
The cast is of a higher level than the other mysteries, with Shields, Elliott, and Beau Bridges as Abby's father.
They just need to pay a little more attention to the scripts.
There were a series of mysteries some years ago - Jane Doe and Mystery Woman, both of which featured good actresses in the leads and were slower than molasses.
The flower shop, garage sale, and Teagarden mysteries move a little faster and have more energy behind them. They're light fare for someone who doesn't want to think for a couple of hours.
I saw Brooke Shields in person some years ago - even from where I was standing, I could tell first how tall she is, and then how graceful. At 51, she's still a beauty and always nice to see. But these films need to be brought up a notch.
Black market flowers
bkoganbing23 October 2018
This movie makes me feel very old and having nothing to do with the film itself.
Seeing Beau Bridges makes me recall seeing him as a child actor, a jungle kid in
the film Zamba. Now over 60 years later he's playing Brooke Shields's elderly
father in Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's The Word.
Brooke has returned to her small town given up being a high pressure big city lawyer. She's opening a florist's shop with her friend Kate Drummond. On the day of her opening her car gets dinged in a hit and run and she also runs into the guy who took her to the senior prom, Wayne Hard now on the streets as a homeless person.
Later on she finds that Hard is the suspect in the murder of a young man and she just doesn't believe it. Her lawyer instincts kick in especially after Hard is killed.
No mystery here, the perpetrator is truly obvious. The only mystery here is how the incidents are connected and why was the original murder killed. Turns out she was just the right person to solve this case. It has to do with black market flowers and I'll say no more other than it's quite a lucrative racket.
Aiding and abetting Brooke's sleuthing is Brennan Elliott who is a former detective opening up and bar and grille down the street from Brooke's Florist shop. No doubt they will be an item in future films, there were two made, who knows if there will be more.
A nice entry in the Hallmark mystery movie series.
Brooke has returned to her small town given up being a high pressure big city lawyer. She's opening a florist's shop with her friend Kate Drummond. On the day of her opening her car gets dinged in a hit and run and she also runs into the guy who took her to the senior prom, Wayne Hard now on the streets as a homeless person.
Later on she finds that Hard is the suspect in the murder of a young man and she just doesn't believe it. Her lawyer instincts kick in especially after Hard is killed.
No mystery here, the perpetrator is truly obvious. The only mystery here is how the incidents are connected and why was the original murder killed. Turns out she was just the right person to solve this case. It has to do with black market flowers and I'll say no more other than it's quite a lucrative racket.
Aiding and abetting Brooke's sleuthing is Brennan Elliott who is a former detective opening up and bar and grille down the street from Brooke's Florist shop. No doubt they will be an item in future films, there were two made, who knows if there will be more.
A nice entry in the Hallmark mystery movie series.
Very Disappointing
reader427 March 2016
Hallmark has recently developed a number of mysteries in which the protagonist is the female owner of a small shop of some kind. These are the Garage Sale Mysteries (5), Murder She Baked (3), Aurora Teagarden (1), and the related Gourmet Detective Mysteries (2). These last two don't quite fit the category, as the protagonist is a cop, not a shop owner, but they are my favorites of the lot, which is probably why I find it so necessary to include them.
The latest addition is A Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word. It is worse than all the eleven movies listed above.
The problem with the movie is not lack of star power. It has bigger names than any of the other 11. Brooke Shields is still appealing at 50, and Brennan Elliot does a decent job. Kate Drummond is sparkling. It's too bad they didn't give her more to do. Beau Bridges, looking better than in several recent appearances, clearly demonstrates that he is the real professional in the cast. But he has an extremely small part. I'd be surprised if he had more than 2 minutes total on-screen time.
It seems that they spent all their budget getting these big names, and a Mercedes for Abby to drive, and had nothing left to hire a screenwriter.
The only reason I give the writing a 2 instead of a zero is that it contains some good puns, a rarity these days, and not present in the other series. But the dialog itself is atrocious: choppy, unrealistic, awkward and poor at conveying the story. (SORRY, THE QUOTES BELOW HAVE BEEN SEVERELY COMPROMISED BY IMDb'S AUTOMATIC FORMATTING.)
It contains such illiteracies as: "re-open up your store."
"His death was very hard on her, and it was for me too."
"I can promise you one thing. Regarding the date. And it will be a date." "Thank you."
And finally, along these lines, "You know what they say, join the Army and see the world." Of course, it should be "Navy."
It contains such discontinuities as "He asked me for money," when Elvis Jones did not do so -- She spontaneously gave him ten whole dollars.
"Did you know they ID'ed the victim?" "(smugly satisfied) Uh-huh. Did you know his name?" "Billy Ryan." "(shocked) What?? When did this happen?" "I won that round, didn't I?"
The dialog is very repetitive.
"Who's that tank commander?" "What?" "Who's that tank commander?" "Oh, that's Sergeant Major Marco Salvare, 75th Army Ranger Unit." "Wow! When? Where?"
And my favorite: "Oh! There's a car!" "Car?" "There's a car!"
A moment later, "What do you see?" "It's an Escalade." "I know it's an Escalade. Who's driving?" "It's Tony Vertucci in the Escalade."
The flow of scenes leaves much to be desired. It's like Goldstein said, "Oh, let's have a scene in the flower shop, and then we can have one in the bar, and then one at her father's house, and then one at the nursery, and then another one at the flower shop, and then another one at the bar, and then one where Marco runs into Abby when she's jogging," without there being any reason or plot requirement to do so. I often found myself apathetic to where they were at the moment and what they were doing (mostly eating).
Many scenes end lamely. Abby comes home to find a wilted, dried-out bouquet on her doorstep. She looks for a note, but there is none. Break to commercial. Bouquet never mentioned again.
"Look, I got a bar to run, so just... good night." "Bye."
"Have a good day, Abby." "Mm-hmm." Break to commercial.
The story is full of idiotic elements. Abby says, "I told my insurance agent to file a claim against Vertucci," which he apparently did, even though she has no evidence, nothing more than a hunch that he was the one who hit her Mercedes and ran.
All the harassment Abby suffers at the hands of a corrupt cop and county commissioner is very prosaic. Little is made of any of it, she mostly ignores it, and there is no tension or suspense whatever associated with it. It is finally all explained away in a couple of sentences in the next-to-last scene.
In that same scene, Abby's DA ex-boyfriend tells her, concerning Elvis Jones's murder, "But, believe me, this part of the investigation is just beginning."
And in an ironic flouting of modern nutritional knowledge: "I've got meatball parm. Four stars on Yelp. We can eat healthy."
The story is not particularly imaginative, which is the flaw of all the 12 movies I speak of here. Their charm results more from the characters and their interaction than from originality of plot. The best along these lines is the Gourmet Detective series, with the banter between Brooke Burns and Dylan Neal a constant delight. The Aurora Teagarden, Murder, She Baked and Garage Sale series also have some good moments.
But the banter in Mum's the Word between Abby and Marco generally falls flat. It is composed of things nobody would ever say, in an order they would never say them, and for most part comes off as just lame. Brooke does what she can to make her character an indomitable force that can't be turned aside, but is severely hampered by the asinine things she has to say.
"You like to meddle, don't you?" "OK, first of all, I hate that word, and... where do we go from here?"
"Think about how happy it makes people." "Is it making you happy?" "Yeah, as a matter of fact, it is." "Good."
There is another Flower Shop Mystery in post-production right now, and one beyond that in the works. Let's hope somebody tossed Hallmark a clue, and that they will be better than this turkey.
The latest addition is A Flower Shop Mystery: Mum's the Word. It is worse than all the eleven movies listed above.
The problem with the movie is not lack of star power. It has bigger names than any of the other 11. Brooke Shields is still appealing at 50, and Brennan Elliot does a decent job. Kate Drummond is sparkling. It's too bad they didn't give her more to do. Beau Bridges, looking better than in several recent appearances, clearly demonstrates that he is the real professional in the cast. But he has an extremely small part. I'd be surprised if he had more than 2 minutes total on-screen time.
It seems that they spent all their budget getting these big names, and a Mercedes for Abby to drive, and had nothing left to hire a screenwriter.
The only reason I give the writing a 2 instead of a zero is that it contains some good puns, a rarity these days, and not present in the other series. But the dialog itself is atrocious: choppy, unrealistic, awkward and poor at conveying the story. (SORRY, THE QUOTES BELOW HAVE BEEN SEVERELY COMPROMISED BY IMDb'S AUTOMATIC FORMATTING.)
It contains such illiteracies as: "re-open up your store."
"His death was very hard on her, and it was for me too."
"I can promise you one thing. Regarding the date. And it will be a date." "Thank you."
And finally, along these lines, "You know what they say, join the Army and see the world." Of course, it should be "Navy."
It contains such discontinuities as "He asked me for money," when Elvis Jones did not do so -- She spontaneously gave him ten whole dollars.
"Did you know they ID'ed the victim?" "(smugly satisfied) Uh-huh. Did you know his name?" "Billy Ryan." "(shocked) What?? When did this happen?" "I won that round, didn't I?"
The dialog is very repetitive.
"Who's that tank commander?" "What?" "Who's that tank commander?" "Oh, that's Sergeant Major Marco Salvare, 75th Army Ranger Unit." "Wow! When? Where?"
And my favorite: "Oh! There's a car!" "Car?" "There's a car!"
A moment later, "What do you see?" "It's an Escalade." "I know it's an Escalade. Who's driving?" "It's Tony Vertucci in the Escalade."
The flow of scenes leaves much to be desired. It's like Goldstein said, "Oh, let's have a scene in the flower shop, and then we can have one in the bar, and then one at her father's house, and then one at the nursery, and then another one at the flower shop, and then another one at the bar, and then one where Marco runs into Abby when she's jogging," without there being any reason or plot requirement to do so. I often found myself apathetic to where they were at the moment and what they were doing (mostly eating).
Many scenes end lamely. Abby comes home to find a wilted, dried-out bouquet on her doorstep. She looks for a note, but there is none. Break to commercial. Bouquet never mentioned again.
"Look, I got a bar to run, so just... good night." "Bye."
"Have a good day, Abby." "Mm-hmm." Break to commercial.
The story is full of idiotic elements. Abby says, "I told my insurance agent to file a claim against Vertucci," which he apparently did, even though she has no evidence, nothing more than a hunch that he was the one who hit her Mercedes and ran.
All the harassment Abby suffers at the hands of a corrupt cop and county commissioner is very prosaic. Little is made of any of it, she mostly ignores it, and there is no tension or suspense whatever associated with it. It is finally all explained away in a couple of sentences in the next-to-last scene.
In that same scene, Abby's DA ex-boyfriend tells her, concerning Elvis Jones's murder, "But, believe me, this part of the investigation is just beginning."
And in an ironic flouting of modern nutritional knowledge: "I've got meatball parm. Four stars on Yelp. We can eat healthy."
The story is not particularly imaginative, which is the flaw of all the 12 movies I speak of here. Their charm results more from the characters and their interaction than from originality of plot. The best along these lines is the Gourmet Detective series, with the banter between Brooke Burns and Dylan Neal a constant delight. The Aurora Teagarden, Murder, She Baked and Garage Sale series also have some good moments.
But the banter in Mum's the Word between Abby and Marco generally falls flat. It is composed of things nobody would ever say, in an order they would never say them, and for most part comes off as just lame. Brooke does what she can to make her character an indomitable force that can't be turned aside, but is severely hampered by the asinine things she has to say.
"You like to meddle, don't you?" "OK, first of all, I hate that word, and... where do we go from here?"
"Think about how happy it makes people." "Is it making you happy?" "Yeah, as a matter of fact, it is." "Good."
There is another Flower Shop Mystery in post-production right now, and one beyond that in the works. Let's hope somebody tossed Hallmark a clue, and that they will be better than this turkey.
Bring this back please
mommydiva2 May 2020
Not crazy about this movie.
nascarhut15 January 2017
I love the Flower Shop Mystery books. It is one of my favorite series. I am beyond disappointed with the movies. I fail to understand why Hallmark would want to make movies based on this series and then change everything people liked about the books. I was really looking forward to seeing Grace,Lottie, and Abbie's Mom. Imagine my surprise when I found out they don't even exist in the movies. I adore Brooke Shields but she is completely miscast as Abbie. She does not in any way shape or form fit the description for Abbie. Hallmark would be better off not making anymore movies based on the Fower Shop Mystery books. They should stick to creating their own original movies.
Great story & Brooke Shields shined
bmiller5921 March 2021
Too too bad there are only three movies in this series. The story line is great...but...Brooke Shields...WOW!
Why can't all actors in HM movies act like her. She was natural, spontaneous, didn't read the words off the page, she acted with nuance, none of the young actors of HM are as natural. What a joy.
Really enjoyed this movie.
Really enjoyed this movie.
Stinks
sshaffer-1877925 January 2016
If I had not read the Flower Shop Mystery books,I may have enjoyed the movie. However, the characters are not at all like the books. I was very disappointed. Although I like Brooke Shields, she is not Abby Knight.Short, red hair and freckles? And where was Abby's wacky artist mom? And cousin? And when did Abby get married, have a grown daughter and then become a widow? Where were the great people that work in the flower shop with Abby? The only character that remotely resembled the books was Marco...and then the name of his bar was different and his past. The cozy mysteries written by Kate Collins are great and I was really looking forward to the movie. Very disappointed.
Bad
judylpn_34 May 2019
Brooke is too old to be Abby. Abby is short, red haired, freckled and young. She dropped out of law school. In the books, her husband is taller than her. He is an investigator and bar owner. Her dad is an ex cop in a wheelchair. She has women working for her that are interesting. She has a mom who thinks she is an artist. Why is so much stuff different?
Typical Hallmark mystery
richardrya6 December 2018
I was just window shopping, you can actually buy.
cgvsluis8 June 2021
Abby, our former lawyer turned meddling flower shop owner, runs in to former high school date Elvis Jones when he pan handles her in the morning just as Abby is opening her shop. Elvis is a bit down on his luck, having just got out of prison for theft. Abby remembers Elvis as being a gentleman back in the day and gives him $10...and an uplifting thought...
"I kind of look at life like Lilies, their perennial. If they don't bloom one year, they always have next year. They always have another chance."-Abby
"I hate mums!"
Later that day, Abby witnesses someone running out of the alley, who then gets into the suv behind her and hits her car in a hit and run situation. Abby gets the plate and in her first meeting with the new bar owner next door, Marco, she gets him to agree to use a contact to find out who the car owner is.
"I think I won that round. I think I am going to like this game."-Marco.
As it turns out, a dead body is found on the other end of the alley and Abby's hit and run perpetrator could be a suspect. Abby starts to get involved when she hears that the number one suspect is none other than Elvis, who she can't believe would ever kill anyone.
"Your assignment, Abby, is to go back to work and stay out of trouble."-Marco
Abby and Marco start to become partners...and great partners they are!
"Now that you have G. I. Joe to protect you."-Nikki.
"Don't say a word? Were you afraid the little lady was going to beat her gums?"-Abby.
"You are just like your mother, Abby. Heart of gold, spine of steel."-Abby's Dad.
This isn't my favorite of the Hallmark mysteries, but the banter is really good and the mystery itself was decent. Worth a watch.
"I kind of look at life like Lilies, their perennial. If they don't bloom one year, they always have next year. They always have another chance."-Abby
"I hate mums!"
Later that day, Abby witnesses someone running out of the alley, who then gets into the suv behind her and hits her car in a hit and run situation. Abby gets the plate and in her first meeting with the new bar owner next door, Marco, she gets him to agree to use a contact to find out who the car owner is.
"I think I won that round. I think I am going to like this game."-Marco.
As it turns out, a dead body is found on the other end of the alley and Abby's hit and run perpetrator could be a suspect. Abby starts to get involved when she hears that the number one suspect is none other than Elvis, who she can't believe would ever kill anyone.
"Your assignment, Abby, is to go back to work and stay out of trouble."-Marco
Abby and Marco start to become partners...and great partners they are!
"Now that you have G. I. Joe to protect you."-Nikki.
"Don't say a word? Were you afraid the little lady was going to beat her gums?"-Abby.
"You are just like your mother, Abby. Heart of gold, spine of steel."-Abby's Dad.
This isn't my favorite of the Hallmark mysteries, but the banter is really good and the mystery itself was decent. Worth a watch.
Change Brooke's hair
carolynkk30 August 2017
Love Brooke Shields, but something needs to be done with her hair -- too dark, too straight, and too long. She's so pretty -- but this hairstyle ages her. How about a youthful style - something shoulder-length, perhaps.
She can also be dressed better than she is. Her outfits make her look dowdy and overweight.
She can also be dressed better than she is. Her outfits make her look dowdy and overweight.
Sadly, Elvis Has Left the Building
lavatch14 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
After Abby Knight returns home to open a flower shop, she meets a panhandler who asks her for $5 for breakfast. The man is down on his luck and lives as a transient. It turns out that it is none other than Elvis Jones, Abby's date from senior prom.
The rude awakening for Abby is the degree of corruption running rampant in her home town. She occasionally meets with her father who is a retired cop completely oblivious of the rot existing in the police force and extending to the town commissioner and a leading local entrepreneur running a nursery.
When a murder ensues, Abby links up with Marco, the owner of a local pub and a former private investigator. Abby's legal background combines with Marco's abilities as a gumshoe to follow the trail of evidence not being pursued by the police.
The relationship of Abby and Marco was intended as the love connection of the film. But there was not great chemistry and few signs of a budding romance. The pacing of the film was also sluggish and the murder plot overly complicated.
The saddest part was the demise of poor Elvis, a victim of the system and ultimately a tragic footnote to the life of Abby Knight.
The rude awakening for Abby is the degree of corruption running rampant in her home town. She occasionally meets with her father who is a retired cop completely oblivious of the rot existing in the police force and extending to the town commissioner and a leading local entrepreneur running a nursery.
When a murder ensues, Abby links up with Marco, the owner of a local pub and a former private investigator. Abby's legal background combines with Marco's abilities as a gumshoe to follow the trail of evidence not being pursued by the police.
The relationship of Abby and Marco was intended as the love connection of the film. But there was not great chemistry and few signs of a budding romance. The pacing of the film was also sluggish and the murder plot overly complicated.
The saddest part was the demise of poor Elvis, a victim of the system and ultimately a tragic footnote to the life of Abby Knight.
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